Health Care Company Denied Accommodation for Urine-Based Drug Screening for Applicant With Renal Failure, Federal Agency Charged

Xerox State Healthcare, LLC, a health care company that offers health care program administration services for programs such as long-term care and pharmacy benefits management, violated federal law when it failed to provide a disabled applicant with a reasonable accommodation which would have allowed her to complete the company's required pre-employment drug screening, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a recently filed workplace discrimination lawsuit.

According to EEOC's complaint, Victoria Dozier, who is diagnosed with end stage renal disease and receives hemodialysis treatment as a result, received a written employment offer from Xerox Healthcare on September 2014. The employment offer was contingent upon successful completion of a pre-employment drug screening. Although Dozier was willing to undergo drug screening, she informed both the company and the lab representative at the drug testing facility, her disability prevented her from providing a urine sample. The complaint alleges Dozier also informed both Xerox Healthcare and the lab representative her dialysis center would perform a drug test in place of the urine testing. Xerox Healthcare denied the request and Dozier was not hired.

The alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which requires employers to provide qualified disabled employees, as well as applicants, with reasonable accommodations, including during the application process. EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, Charlotte Division (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Xerox State Healthcare, LLC, Civil Action No. 3:15-cv-00427) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

"A company's applicants are covered by the ADA just as employees are," said Lynette A. Barnes, regional attorney for EEOC's Charlotte District Office. "When a company is aware that a qualified applicant needs a reasonable accommodation in order to complete an aspect of the hiring process, the company must grant that request unless it poses an undue hardship for the company."

EEOC is responsible for enforcing federal laws against employment discrimination. Further information is available at www.eeoc.gov.