The
announcement follows Congressional moves to regulate the use of
genetic information for insurance and employment purposes.
The issue of genetic testing in the workplace came to prominence
in 2001 when the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
took Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) to court over its
practice of genetically testing employees who filed claims for
work-related injuries based on carpal tunnel syndrome.
According to the EEOC's complaint, BNSF’s genetic testing
program was carried out without the knowledge or consent of its
employees, and at least one worker faced being sacked for failing
to submit a blood sample for a genetic test.
This, said the EEOC, was in breach of the US Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination against
qualified individuals with disabilities, including prohibiting an
employer from seeking disability related information not related to
an employee's ability to perform his or her job.
The case settled a few months later, with the BNSF admitting
that it carried out the tests and agreeing not to require or carry
out such tests in future.
But while genetic testing is still rare in the workplace, there
are concerns that the ADA will not be able to regulate all aspects
of such testing, and lobby groups have been pushing for separate
legislation.
In February 2000 President Clinton issued an Executive Order to
Prohibit Discrimination in Federal Employment Based on Genetic
Information, which deals with genetic discrimination by federal
employers. Private employers, however, may in future find
themselves regulated by the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination
Act, which was approved by the Senate in February.
The Act sets out how genetic information should be protected in
both an insurance and employment setting. It is also hoped that it
will aid genetic research by making individuals feel protected when
participating in clinical trials and other research activities.
A similar measure is currently working its way through the House
of Representatives, after which it must be approved by President
Bush before it can become law.
IBM, one of the largest US employers, pre-empted the legislation
on Monday, announcing in a memo to staff that it would not use
genetic information either to screen employees and job applicants
or to assess whether staff members were eligible to join benefits
or health-care schemes.
Speaking to Reuters, IBM's chief privacy officer, Harriet
Pearson, explained that genetic screening “has nothing to do with
your employment, how good your contributions are, how good of a
team member you are, so making a policy statement in this case is
the right thing to do”.
