TAMPA, Fla. (Legal Newsline) – The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has charged KB Staffing LLC, a central Florida staffing firm, with allegations of making unlawful pre-offer health inquiries of applicants.
KB Staffing allegedly made applicants fill out a paper application package that asked detailed questions about medical history before offering a position or placement. While KB Staffing purportedly changed this process in 2013, EEOC claims that in some instances, the medical questionnaire was still used.
In most cases, employers cannot make pre-offer medical inquiries due to the Americans with Disabilities Act.
"Congress recognized that prohibiting pre-offer medical inquiries was necessary to prevent applicants from being subjected to harmful and unfounded stereotypes on the basis of an actual or perceived disability," EEOC Regional Attorney Robert Weisberg said. "As staffing agencies now play a large role in our nation's workforce, eliminating any discrimination in their screening practices is increasingly important to ensuring that workers with disabilities have equal access to work opportunities."
EEOC seeks compensatory damages, punitive damages and injunctive relief.
"Employers need to be aware that EEOC will continue to enforce the ADA vigorously,” EEOC’s Tampa Field Director Georgia Marchbanks said. “Applicants should not have to worry that an employer will use sensitive and private medical information against them to unfairly exclude them from jobs that they could perform."