In January 2001, the EEOC district office in Richmond, Virgina brought this suit against the Overnite Transportation Company, a general commercial shipping courier, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia. The charging party had worked for the defendant as a truck driver and dock worker until he was injured on the job and resigned pursuant to a worker's compensation settlement. Approximately a year later, he applied for a job with another trucking company, and on the application he misrepresented the circumstances of his departure from his previous job, stating that his position had simply been eliminated. He was hired, but his new employer continued to verify the information he had provided. When they contacted a former co-worker at the defendant's company, they learned the truth. The EEOC alleged that this was a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, on the grounds that it was tantamount to an improper disclosure of confidential medical information.

The court granted the defendant's motion for summary judgment in November 2001, reasoning the disclosure of the complainant's injuries did not violate the ADA because it was not gleamed from confidential medical records or exams; rather, the complainant's co-worker knew of his injuries because the complainant himself had discussed them openly. E.E.O.C. v. Overnite Transp. Co., 2001 WL 1521584 (W.D.Va. Nov. 30, 2001 at *3).

Jason Chester - 07/03/2007


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