Company Ordered to Pay for Job Applicant Discrimination

The EEOC sued G2 Secure Staff, LLC in September 2011, charging that the company unlawfully refused to accommodate a disabled applicant who needed an accommodation during the hiring process and subsequently denied him employment because of his disability.

According to the EEOC’s complaint, Sharif K. Thompson has end-stage renal disease, a condition in which his kidneys no longer function, and he is not able to urinate. The EEOC charged that around May 2010 Thompson applied for a shift supervisor position at G2 Secure Staff’s facility at Raleigh-Durham International Airport in Raleigh, North Carolina. Thompson successfully completed all of the requirements for obtaining the position with the exception of a drug test. Due to the fact that Thompson is not able to urinate, he asked if he could take the drug test using a hair sample rather than a urinalysis as an accommodation for his disability. However, the company failed to provide Thompson the opportunity to take the drug test by hair sample or any other means. Consequently, Thompson was denied the job, the EEOC said.

In resolution of the suit, G2 Secure will pay $30,000 to Thompson. The consent decree resolving the case also includes injunctive relief enjoining the company from engaging in any further disability discrimination or retaliation against those who complain about it. The decree requires the company to revise its anti-discrimination policy to include, among other things, a procedure for requesting a reasonable accommodation under the ADA and an explanation of an employer’s obligation to engage in the interactive process when an employee makes a request for a reasonable accommodation. The settlement also requires the company to post a notice about the settlement and conduct training on its obligations under the ADA.

The case is Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. G2 Secure Staff, LLC; No. 5:11-cv-475.