Mollica on the Seventh Circuit on Medical Privacy and the ADA

Samuel Bagenstos writes:

Over at his very helpful blog, Paul Mollica has this post on a case the Seventh Circuit decided yesterday on an employer’s ADA obligations to keep employees’ medical information confidential. An excerpt:

While the Americans with Disabilities Act protects medical information about employees disclosed to an employer as a result of “medical examinations and inquiries,” 42 U.S.C. § 12112(d), such protection is not infinitely elastic. The Seventh Circuit, affirming summary judgment in this ADA case, holds that the employer must “already kn[o]w something [i]s wrong with the employee before initiating the interaction in order for that interaction to constitute a 42 U.S.C. § 12112(d)(4)(B) inquiry.” Fortunately for disabled employees, such circumstances are usually within their control if they are willing to come straight with their bosses about their work-related needs at the beginning of the relationship.