Rescinding Job Offer After Medical Exam Q&A

[Micheal Jorden]

Many employers require new employees to complete a post-offer medical examination. But, do do you know what you certainly can do if this exam reveals a critical medical problem? The ADA limits your response to this situation.

Q: We require new hires to truly have a medical examination ahead of beginning work. If the exam turns up a critical medical condition, may we rescind the task offer? A: Only in limited circumstances. Beneath the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), you could revoke an employment offer based on information obtained from the medical examination or inquiries if the criteria used are job-related and in keeping with business necessity. But, you also must show that despite reasonable accommodation, the in-patient would be unable to perform the essential job functions. Further, you could screen out an applicant on the cornerstone of a disability if the in-patient poses a "direct threat" (i.e., a substantial threat of substantial harm to himself or others) and the risk can't be adequately reduced by reasonable accommodation.

This level of risk assessment can be very difficult to demonstrate. For instance, a medical examination might reveal an individual has a gentle back deformity although he's currently able to complete the heavy lifting that the job requires. This applicant likely should not be rejected beneath the ADA. According to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) regulations and guidance, the outcomes of a medical examination might not be used to disqualify people that are currently able to execute the essential functions of a job.

Quite simply, the EEOC says you might not reject an applicant due to "fear or speculation" that the current condition indicates a top threat of future injury. Instead, you have to base your assertion that the applicant poses a "significant, current threat of substantial harm" on an individualized assessment that reflects current medical knowledge and the best available objective evidence.

Similarly, if applicants are rejected based on criteria such as for example "abnormal" back x-rays, epilepsy, or lifting requirements, and those criteria tend to screen out an entire class of people with disabilities, offre d’emploi the employer must be able to show that the exclusionary criteria are job-related and in keeping with business necessity. So, for instance, in Miller v. City of Springfield, 146 F.3d 612 (8th Cir. 1998), the court determined that the police force did not violate the ADA by screening out applicants using psychological testing built to measure depression. The court discovered that the psychological testing was job-related and in keeping with business necessity since it was used to select individuals to teach as police officers.

The EEOC, in its ADA Technical Assistance Manual, also has brought the career that general "blanket" exclusions usually won't meet ADA requirements because these evaluations do not involve an individualized medical assessment of the applicant's current ability to execute the task safely and effectively. However, a few courts have rejected the EEOC's position and ruled that employers may use medical tests or inquiries to screen out individuals who're not disabled but who may create a condition that could make sure they are unable to execute a particular job.

For instance, in EEOC v. Rockwell Internat'l Corp., 243 F.3d 1012 (7th Cir. 2001), the Seventh Circuit determined that the employer did not regard 72 applicants as disabled when it excluded them from employment in jobs that had a top threat of causing cumulative trauma disorders. The employer based its actions on test results showing that the applicants were more likely than others to produce carpal tunnel syndrome. The court upheld the employer's decisions as the EEOC did not present evidence showing that the employer perceived the applicants as substantially limited within their capability to work in virtually any job in Southern Illinois. Rather, the employer regarded the applicants as unable to perform only four particular jobs at Rockwell.