The Department of Justice filed an agreement today in Newark federal court to resolve its lawsuit against the Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation (PATH) under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA). PATH operates a rail transit service between Manhattan and New Jersey. The department’s suit alleges PATH subjected its workers to unnecessary medical exams and sought unnecessary information from those employees about their disabilities and other health conditions. As part of the settlement agreement, PATH will pay a total of $100,000 to certain employees who were harmed by PATH’s exams and inquiries. The settlement agreement resolves a lawsuit that the department filed today in federal court in New Jersey.
Under the terms of the agreement, which must be approved by the court, PATH has agreed to stop unnecessary medical exams, as well as unnecessary questions about employees’ disabilities, health conditions, and family medical history. In addition to the compensation to two employees, the settlement also requires PATH to train its staff on the ADA and GINA and to periodically submit reports about its compliance with the agreement. The ADA bars employers from requiring medical exams or inquiries of on-the-job employees unless the information sought is vital to job performance or safety. GINA bars employers from asking employees to disclose genetic information, including questions about family medical history.
