BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Legal Newsline) - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced a lawsuit Sept. 25 against Dolgencorp LLC, doing business as Dollar General Stores Inc., for allegations of rescinding job offers from applicants after learning they had disabilities.
The EEOC alleges Vincent Jackson applied to Dollar General Distribution Center in Bessemer, Alabama, in June 2015. After receiving a job offer, Jackson was asked to take a post-offer medical examination. During this exam, Jackson revealed that he had monocular vision.
The company withdrew its offer, even though Jackson had worked in similar roles with no issues in the past. The EEOC also alleges the company imposed other medical standards to screen out individuals with disabilities.
"Employers cannot use post-offer medical examinations to weed out individuals with disabilities," EEOC Birmingham District Director Delner Franklin-Thomas said. "The imposition of selection criteria not rooted in business necessity but rather in stereotypes about what individuals with certain impairments can and cannot do violates the Americans with Disabilities Act."
The EEOC seeks back pay and compensatory and punitive damages, as well as injunctive relief to bar Dolgencorp from future discrimination.
"No applicant should be placed in the position of being forced to reveal personal family medical information to get a job. The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act prohibits that, and the EEOC enforces it,” EEOC regional attorney Marsha Rucker said.