Genetic Nondiscrimination in the Workplace Act

Genetic Nondiscrimination in the Workplace Act - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to prohibit employers from obtaining, disclosing, or using genetic information about their employees or prospective employees unless they receive written authorization from such individuals, and provide such individuals with a written statement of the uses which the employer intends for such information.

Allows employees or prospective employees to bring civil actions for actual damages and equitable relief against employers who violate this Act.

[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
[H.R. 2215 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2215

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to restrict employers in 
        obtaining, disclosing, and using of genetic information.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 22, 1997

 Mr. Kennedy of Massachusetts introduced the following bill; which was 
        referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to restrict employers in 
        obtaining, disclosing, and using of genetic information.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Genetic Nondiscrimination in the 
Workplace Act''.

SEC. 2. GENETIC INFORMATION.

    The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:

                         ``genetic information

    ``Sec. 20. (a) No employer may obtain from any source genetic 
information about an employee or prospective employee unless authorized 
by such employee or prospective employee in accordance with subsection 
(b).
    ``(b) An authorization for the disclosure of genetic information 
about an employee or prospective employee to an employer is valid only 
if each of the following requirements is met:
            ``(1) The authorization is in writing, signed by the 
        individual making the authorization, and dated on the date of 
        the signature.
            ``(2) The authorization is not on a form used for any other 
        purpose.
            ``(3) The employer authorized to receive the information is 
        specifically named in the authorization.
            ``(4) The authorization contains an acknowledgment that the 
        individual making the authorization has received the statement 
        described in subsection (c).
    ``(c) An employer who wishes to receive genetic information about 
an employee or prospective employee shall provide the employee or 
prospective employee with a written statement of the uses which the 
employer intends for such genetic information.
    ``(d) If an employer obtains, discloses, or uses genetic 
information without a valid authorization or not in accordance with a 
statement provided under subsection (c), the employee or prospective 
employee whose genetic information was so obtained, disclosed, or used 
may bring a civil action for actual damages and equitable relief.
    ``(e) Nothing in this section authorizes an employer to obtain, 
disclose, or use genetic information about an employee or prospective 
employee in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 or 
any other Federal or State law that restricts access to, disclosure of, 
or use of genetic information.''.
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