II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1045

To prohibit discrimination in employment on the basis of genetic information,

and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 22, 1997

Mr. DASCHLE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources

A BILL

To prohibit discrimination in employment on the basis of

genetic information, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘The Genetic Justice

5 Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 In this Act:

8 (1) EMPLOYEE; EMPLOYER; EMPLOYMENT

9 AGENCY; LABOR ORGANIZATION; MEMBER.—The

10 terms ‘‘employee’’, ‘‘employer’’, ‘‘employment agen-
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1 cy’’, and ‘‘labor organization’’ have the meanings

2 given the terms in section 701 of the Civil Rights

3 Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e). The terms ‘‘em4 ployee’’ and ‘‘member’’ include an applicant for em5 ployment and an applicant for membership in a

6 labor organization, respectively.

7 (2) GENETIC INFORMATION.—The term ‘‘ge8 netic information’’, used with respect to an individ9 ual, means information (including information re10 garding carrier status and information derived from

11 a laboratory test that identifies mutations in specific

12 genes or chromosomes, a physical medical examina13 tion, a family history, and a direct analysis of genes

14 or chromosomes) about a gene, gene product, or in15 herited characteristic that derives from the individ16 ual or a family member of the individual.

17 (3) GENETIC SERVICES.—The term ‘‘genetic

18 services’’ means genetic evaluation, genetic testing,

19 genetic counseling, and related services.

20 SEC. 3. EMPLOYER PRACTICES.

21 It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an

22 employer—

23 (1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any

24 individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any

25 individual with respect to the compensation, terms,
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1 conditions, or privileges of employment of the indi2 vidual, because of genetic information with respect

3 to the individual, including an inquiry by the individ4 ual regarding genetic services;

5 (2) to limit, segregate, or classify the employees

6 of the employer in any way that would deprive or

7 tend to deprive any individual of employment oppor8 tunities or otherwise adversely affect the status of

9 the individual as an employee, because of genetic in10 formation with respect to the individual, including

11 an inquiry by the individual regarding genetic serv12 ices; or

13 (3) to request or require the collection for the

14 employer or disclosure to the employer of genetic in15 formation with respect to an individual unless the

16 employer shows that—

17 (A) the employer made the request or re18 quirement after making an offer of employment

19 to the individual;

20 (B) the information is job-related for the

21 position in question and consistent with busi22 ness necessity; and

23 (C) the knowing and voluntary written

24 consent of the individual has been obtained for
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1 the request or requirement, and the collection

2 or disclosure.

3 SEC. 4. EMPLOYMENT AGENCY PRACTICES.

4 It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an

5 employment agency to fail or refuse to refer for employ6 ment, or otherwise to discriminate against, any individual

7 because of genetic information with respect to the individ8 ual, including an inquiry by the individual regarding ge9 netic services.

10 SEC. 5. LABOR ORGANIZATION PRACTICES.

11 It shall be an unlawful employment practice for a

12 labor organization—

13 (1) to exclude or to expel from the membership

14 of the organization, or otherwise to discriminate

15 against, any individual because of genetic informa16 tion with respect to the individual, including an in17 quiry by the individual regarding genetic services;

18 (2) to limit, segregate, or classify the members

19 of the organization, or to classify or fail or refuse to

20 refer for employment any individual, in any way that

21 would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of

22 employment opportunities, or would limit the em23 ployment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect

24 the status of the individual as an employee, because

25 of genetic information with respect to the individual,
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1 including an inquiry by the individual regarding ge2 netic services; or

3 (3) to cause or attempt to cause an employer to

4 discriminate against an individual in violation of this

5 section.

6 SEC. 6. TRAINING PROGRAMS.

7 It shall be an unlawful employment practice for any

8 employer, labor organization, or joint labor-management

9 committee controlling apprenticeship or other training or

10 retraining, including on-the-job training programs, to dis11 criminate against any individual because of genetic infor12 mation with respect to the individual, including an inquiry

13 by the individual regarding genetic services, in admission

14 to, or employment in, any program established to provide

15 apprenticeship or other training or retraining.

16 SEC. 7. CONFIDENTIALITY.

17 If an employer, labor organization, or employment

18 agency possesses genetic information about an employee,

19 the employer, labor organization, or employment agency—

20 (1) shall maintain the information on separate

21 forms and in separate medical files, and treat the in22 formation as a confidential medical record, except

23 that, if the employee provides knowing and voluntary

24 written consent—
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1 (A) the employer may inform a supervisor

2 or manager of the employee regarding a nec3 essary restriction on the work or duties of, or

4 a necessary accommodation for, the employee;

5 (B) the employer may inform first aid and

6 safety personnel (when appropriate, within the

7 meaning of section 102(d)(3)(B)(ii) of the

8 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42

9 U.S.C. 12112(d)(3)(B)(ii))); and

10 (C) the employer shall provide relevant in11 formation to a government official investigating

12 compliance with this Act, on request;

13 (2) shall disclose the information to the em14 ployee at the request of the employee; and

15 (3) shall not otherwise disclose the information.

16 SEC. 8. CIVIL ACTION.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—An employee or member of a labor

18 organization may bring an action in a Federal or State

19 court of competent jurisdiction against an employer, em20 ployment agency, labor organization, or joint labor-man21 agement committee who violates this Act.

22 (b) CLASS ACTIONS.—The employee or member may

23 bring the action for and in behalf of—

24 (1) the employee or member; or
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1 (2) the employee or member, and other employ2 ees or members of the labor organization who are

3 similarly situated.

4 (c) REMEDY.—The court in which the action is

5 brought may award any appropriate legal or equitable re6 lief.

7 SEC. 9. CONSTRUCTION.

8 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit the

9 rights or protections of an employee or member of a labor

10 organization under the Americans with Disabilities Act of

11 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.).

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