AbbVie Unlawfully Requires Prospective Employees to Disclose Family Medical Histories, Class Action Claims

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A former employee at AbbVie’s headquarters in North Chicago alleges in a proposed class action that the pharmaceutical company required him to disclose his family medical history during the hiring process, in violation of Illinois law.

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The 15-page case claims AbbVie has run afoul of the Illinois Genetic Information Privacy Act (GIPA), a state law that protects residents from discrimination in the workplace based on their genetic information. Specifically, the GIPA prohibits employers from learning or using an individual’s family medical history to make employment decisions, the suit relays.  

Despite the GIPA’s clear mandates, the plaintiff claims he was required to disclose his family medical history as part of a pre-employment physical for a technician position at AbbVie’s North Chicago facility he applied for in December 2022.

According to the lawsuit, the physical was conducted at AbbVie’s facility by a medical provider allegedly employed by the company. The complaint says that during the physical, the plaintiff was asked to reveal both verbally and in a written questionnaire whether various diseases or disorders with a genetic predisposition had manifested in his parents, including cardiac conditions, cancer and diabetes, among other illnesses.

“[The plaintiff] would have never disclosed his genetic information if the provider had not asked [him] to do so,” the filing argues, claiming that the man was required to attend this physical and provide his genetic information in order to be hired.

The suit alleges that AbbVie unlawfully procures family medical histories to help it make “hiring decisions, staffing assignments, and determinations regarding workers’ compensation claims and medical leave.”

Per the case, the company wants to avoid being held liable for workplace injuries or death, so it uses this information to evaluate the risk that prospective employees may have inherited certain genetic conditions, such as hypertension, cancer, heart conditions, diabetes or stroke, which workplace conditions could exacerbate.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone in Illinois who, within the past five years, applied for employment with or was employed by AbbVie and from whom the company, or an agent acting on its behalf, requested and/or obtained genetic information, including family medical history, in connection with their employment or application for employment.

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