Southeast ADA Center
2008
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“John Doe” began working part time at Ford Motor Credit Company (Ford) in June 2000 and began full-time employment with Ford in March 2001. In 2002 Mr. Doe was diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and his primary care physician enrolled him in a study that paid for his HIV medications. The study took place at Vanderbilt Comprehensive Care Center and required Mr. Doe to go to the Center once a week, between Tuesday and Thursday, to give a blood samples. Mr. Doe did not want to tell his direct supervisor, Chandra Chisom, about his diagnosis because he feared that Ms. Chisom would share the information with his co-workers. Therefore, Mr. Doe asked his manager Danny Dunson for a schedule that would accommodate his need for the weekly blood draws.
At first, Mr. Doe explained he would need the schedule accommodation due to a “medical condition,” but Mr. Dunson required a specific diagnosis because he believed he would need to distinguish this accommodation request from others. Pressed for a diagnosis, Mr. Doe told Mr. Dunson he was diagnosed with HIV. Mr. Dunson subsequently referred him to occupational health nurse, Sue Geisen, an independent contractor. Nurse Geisen informed Mr. Doe of his rights under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and that he did not have to disclose or discuss his medical information with anyone but her. Nurse Geisen also informed Mr. Doe that he was to provide her with his medical records and any FMLA requests. She did not discuss with him how to respond to a supervisors request for such information.
In early 2002, Mr. Dunson explained to Mr. Doe that Ms. Chisom had been giving him “a hard time” for not telling her why Mr. Doe was given a schedule accommodation. Mr. Doe told Mr. Dunson that he did not want Ms. Chisom to know about his diagnosis, and Mr. Dunson complied. However, a few weeks later, Mr. Dunson again explained to Mr. Doe that Ms. Chisom wanted to know about Mr. Doe’s schedule accommodation. Nonetheless, after Mr. Doe explained only Nurse Geisen was to have that information, Mr. Dunson called Ms. Chisom into his office and told her about Mr. Doe’s HIV status.
https://adasoutheast.org/court-decisions/eeoc-v-ford-motor-credit-co
Keywords: Americans with Disabilities Act, employment, enforcement, job-related inquiry, legal concepts, tangible inquiry, voluntary disclosure