Job offer revoked after drug test reveals man’s ADHD medication, Texas lawsuit says
A man’s job offer was rescinded in Texas after a drug test came back positive for amphetamines, despite the man’s Adderall prescription from a doctor, a lawsuit said.
The company refused to reconsider its decision, the lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on April 11 said.
According to the lawsuit, International Paper Co., based in Tennessee, discriminated against the applicant based on his ADHD. The company is one of the world’s biggest producers of fiber-based products.
The man received a conditional offer of employment at the company’s Grand Prairie, Texas, location, the lawsuit said. His job offer was dependent on a medical examination and a negative drug test.
According to the lawsuit, the applicant disclosed that he had ADHD and was taking Adderall, a medication used to treat ADHD, for it.
But after his drug test came back positive for amphetamines, despite his disclosure of his ADHD medication, the company took back his job offer, the EEOC lawsuit said.
Adderall contains multiple types of amphetamines, according to the FDA.
“The defendant revoked the applicant’s conditional offer, informing him that it was because he did not pass the drug test,” the lawsuit said.
According to the EEOC, the man contacted the company multiple times to give contact information of his doctor and to say he thought the company was violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. International Paper did not reverse its decision despite the applicant’s efforts.
“Discriminatory drug screen policies like the one in this case stigmatize mental health,” Brooke López, trial attorney in the EEOC’s Dallas District Office, said in a news release. “The ADA prohibits employers from excluding applicants for hire because of their disability.”
The ADA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodation during the hiring process, the EEOC said.
“An employer must engage in an interactive process when it learns of an applicant’s need for reasonable accommodation in the hiring process,” EEOC acting supervisory trial attorney Meaghan Kuelbs said in the release. “When that conversation does not take place, not only may the applicant be denied a job, but the employer may lose a potentially valuable employee.”
This story was originally published April 12, 2022 at 12:51 PM with the headline "Job offer revoked after drug test reveals man’s ADHD medication, Texas lawsuit says."
