Federal officials say a pair of Texas-based industrial equipment and services companies refused to hire worker because of medical treatment for anxiety and opioid addiction. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed Aug. 19 that the actions of The Modern Group Ltd. and Beaumont, Texas-based Dragon Rig Sales and Service LLC violated federal law.
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the applicant applied for a welding job at Dragon Rig’s Victoria, Texas, facility. He had worked without incident as a welder for 13 years. Throughout those 13 years, he had taken prescription medication to treat his anxiety. For many of those years, he had also been in recovery for opioid addiction, taking medication prescribed and monitored by a medication-assisted treatment program, the EEOC said.
After assessing his qualifications and work experience, Dragon Rig offered the applicant a job conditioned on his passing a pre-employment drug test, the EEOC said. The applicant provided the drug testing facility copies of his prescriptions and he passed the drug test.
Nevertheless, the facility’s medical review officer informed Dragon Rig of the applicant’s medication use and stated that the medication could impair his ability to perform the job and operate equipment safely. The EEOC reported that without conducting any further inquiry, discussion, or assessment of the applicant’s ability to perform the job, the defendant companies withdrew the employment offer.
Dragon Rig’s operations manager told the applicant “If you get off that s***, I’ll hire you,” the EEOC said.
Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) which prohibits disability discrimination in employment, including disqualifying a disabled worker for taking prescription medication used to treat his disabilities when the treatment does not create a risk of substantial harm to the health and safety of the worker or others.
The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Beaumont Division (Civil Action No. 1:21-cv-00451) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.
The lawsuit was brought by the EEOC’s Houston District Office which has jurisdiction over East and Southeast Texas and the State of Louisiana.
Source: EEOC
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