An Ohio company has been fined $50,000 by the EEOC after firing an employee who tested positive for a prescribed medication for her bipolar disorder. The agency accused the company of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. Chassity Brady was a quality control lab technician in the Braselton, Ga. facility of Dayton Superior Corporation, a concrete and masonry construction company, according to the EEOC. After Brady had an adverse reaction at work to a drug prescribed to her to treat her bipolar disorder, Dayton Superior forced her to take a drug test. Even though the only thing she tested positive for was the bipolar drug, the employer fired her. The EEOC filed a lawsuit on Brady’s behalf in September. Under the settlement announced Jan. 4, Dayton Superior agreed to pay Brady $50,000 and to complete training, report to the EEOC, and post relevant notices.
Employers are never supposed to make hiring and firing decisions based on disabilities – including those that are only indicated by a prescription, and employers must be careful before firing someone for taking medically indicated prescription medications. In another case, the employer had an actual policy and practice of drug testing employees for not only illegal drugs but also a group of perfectly legal prescription medications. In that case, the EEOC fined a Tennessee employer $750,000. The EEOC said Dura Automotive Systems required employees who tested positive for legally prescribed medications to disclose the medical conditions for which they were taking prescription medications. Dura also said employees could only keep their jobs if they stopped taking their meds. “Dura then suspended employees until they stopped taking their prescription medications, and fired those who were unable to perform their job duties without the benefit of their prescription medications,” said the EEOC.
If your employer utilizes any such policy, talk to a lawyer or consider filing a charge with the EEOC. Making employment decisions on the basis of stereotypical assumptions about disability-based medications is one of the problems the ADA was designed to combat.