Sure enough, you’d all agree that one of the prominent mental health facilities in the United States is Rogers Behavioral Health, which is located in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. But what’s so wrong that they got into this famous Rogers Behavioral Health Lawsuit? Well, just so you know, this facility experienced serious allegations laid against it by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in the year 2019.
But what was that all about? You see, the fundamental issue was with Rogers rescinding the job offer to a woman who was about to become one of the intake specialists after a pre-employment drug test showed a positive result for the medication that she was taking for anxiety, which was specifically Alprazolam, you know? As per the details that are out there, you see, the applicant in the hiring process had mentioned that she had a legal prescription for the medication, however, going back to the time of the rescinding of the job offer, the facility failed to verify her explanation. And that was what led to this lawsuit, and here we are about to see the details of it all.
Why Does This Lawsuit Matter In The First Place?
You should really know that some recent reports show that Rogers Behavioral Health, in defiance of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) alluded to by the Commission, was found guilty of judging workers based on actual or perceived disability. Not just that though, more so, the agency argued that the fact that Rogers had an applicant who was on medication for anxiety was misunderstood, and perceived as a disability that could hinder her working, you know?
So sure enough, in addition, the lawsuit indicates that Title VII, a section of the Civil Rights Act that guarantees equal opportunities for recruitment, was breached. That was just one side of the story, you see, the main point for these allegations was the EEOC assertion on the part of Rogers that it was acting on guesses, not facts, and that’s why she got rejected which is pretty unfair. So, now do you understand why this whole case is important? Yes, because it is all about the unfairness that is going on when selecting applicants.
What the EEOC Is Asking For?
Well, as per the details that are already out, you see, this very lawsuit, filed in federal court in Wisconsin in June 2019, required Rogers Behavioral Health to repay it. And sure enough, the EEOC requested the facility to give the applicant her job, settle the financial and emotional damages she suffered, and modify the hiring policies in order to avoid the recurrence of discrimination, you know? All in all, certainly, this case shows that employers must have a sound, lawful way of doing things when it comes to pre-employment tests.
What Are The Key Arguments from the EEOC?
As we saw in the details and the courtroom drama, yes, EEOC focused on the fact that Alprazolam is a drug that is mainly part of the bundle of prescriptions each month in the majority of the patients through Rogers Behavioral Health meant to be the primary drug in this case. Not just that though, you should also know that the facility contacted the applicant and did not seek clarification then they simply withdrew the offer causing EEOC attorney Gregory Gochanour to call this decision “obviously biased.” All in all, EEOC leader Julianne Bowman remarked that such actions not only hurt the individual but also the larger workforce by removing capable workers because of unverified assumptions, and that’s pretty unfair because that’s not how things should be conducted.