Lowe v. Atlas Logistics Grp. Retail Servs. Atlanta, LLC - 102 F. Supp. 3d 1360 (N.D. Ga. 2015)

Rule:

The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer to request, require, or purchase genetic information with respect to an employee. 42 U.S.C.S. § 2000ff-1(b). Section 2000ff-1(b) lists six exceptions to this general prohibition.

Facts:

A mystery employee of Atlas Logistics Group Retail Services (Atlanta), LLC ("Atlas"), an operator of warehouses for the storage of products sold at a variety of grocery stores, began to habitually defecate in one of the company’s warehouses. Atlas requested some of its employees, including Jack Lowe and Dennis Reynolds, to submit to a cheek swab. The cheek cell samples were then sent to a lab where a technician compared the cheek cell DNA to DNA from the offending fecal matter. Lowe and Dennis were not a match. The employees subsequently filed suit under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act ("GINA"), 42 U.S.C. § 2000ff, et seq., which generally prohibited employers from requesting genetic information from its employees.

Issue:

Was the information requested and obtained by Atlas “genetic information” covered by GINA?

Answer:

Yes.

Conclusion:

Where an employer took cheek cell samples from two employees, which were sent to a lab where a technician compared the cheek cell DNA to DNA from fecal matter than had been found in the employer's warehouse, the employer violated the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), 42 U.S.C.S. § 2000ff, et seq., because the plain language of the statute provided that employers could not request genetic information with respect to an employee, 42 U.S.C.S. § 2000ff-1(b), and GINA broadly defined genetic information to include information about an individual's genetic tests, such as the tests of the two employees' DNA.