GINA - A genetics anti bias law

 

As of this weekend, due to an act of Congress called the Genetic Information Non

Discrimination Act, businesses will no longer be able to discriminate among their employees or in some instances, customers, based on genetic data.

 

The theory is that this law protects people with genetic markers for diseases such as Parkinson’s from being refused employment or insurance coverage based on genetic testing data .

 

Tough this isn’t really a problem now, I can imagine that in ten years genetic testing technology could become common place enough for this to become an issue. 

 

But before we congratulate Congress on this burst of proactivity, let me touch on an apparent gotcha. The way the law is written, an employer may be opening themselves to legal action if they have any records noting that a particular employee has a current or possible future genetic issue. In a lawsuit, such a record could, in theory be used to bolster the argument that the employee was or was not hired, fired or promoted based on this data.

 

The other gotcha is that businesses now have to get new labor law poster for their lunchrooms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vincent: “A year is a long time.”

Irene: “Not so long. Just once around the sun.”