In the nearly ten years since the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) became law, very few charges alleging workplace discrimination on the basis of genetic information have been filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and even fewer lawsuits alleging such discrimination have been filed in federal court.
In one of the rare GINA cases to go to a federal appeals court, a recent ruling by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of Punt v. Kelly Services, 862 F.3d 1040 (10th Cir. 2017), serves as a reminder of GINA’s protections and, in particular, its broad definition of “genetic information.” Although the court concluded that the plaintiff failed to make out a viable discrimination claim, it confirmed that GINA’s potential reach is significant.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.