Employers May Only Ask Health Questions Related to Job Duties

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently filed a lawsuit against Blue Sky Vision L.L.C., in which the EEOC has alleged that the company forced an employee to respond to an improper medical inquiry and then terminated him because of a perceived disability.  The EEOC’s lawsuit claims that it hired the employee in June 2018 to work as an optometrist.  Three months after it hired him, the employee mentioned to a coworker that he suffered from a disability.  Blue Sky learned about the employee’s medical condition, and it told him that he could no longer work for the company.  In response, this employee complained that Blue Sky’s actions were illegal, so the company postponed the termination of his employment, put the employee on a leave of absence, and subjected him to a medical inquiry into his health conditions, which was not related to his job or his ability to perform his job.  The employee refused to complete the medical inquiry, and Blue Sky terminated his employment in response.  This alleged conduct is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits employers from discriminating against employees because of a disability or a perceived disability.  See EEOC v. Blue Sky Vision, LLC, No. 1:20-cv-00285 (W.D. Mich.).