Facts

Plaintiff United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charged that defendant Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. dba Kaiser Permanente and KP On-Call LLC refused to hire a qualified HIV-positive applicant because of his HIV-positive disability status, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The plaintiff claimed that defendant gave the applicant a conditional offer of employment as a telephonic advice nurse at Kaiser's San Diego facility, but that defendant rescinded the offer of employment after it discovered the applicant was HIV-positive. At the time he applied, the applicant was working at Kaiser as a nurse through a temporary employment agency.

Kaiser Permanente has strong policies and procedures in place to prevent employment discrimination and to ensure proper application of its pre-employment health screening requirements. In this instance, Kaiser Permanente regrets that these health screening policies were not followed. This was an isolated event. Kaiser Permanente worked with the EEOC to make improvements in its pre-employment procedures as part of the settlement. It will also provide additional training to staff to help prevent any possible recurrence of this situation. Kaiser Permanente remains committed to ensuring that the pre-employment health screening process be applied appropriately to each applicant.

Result

The defendant agreed to pay a total of $65,000 to David Warren-Taylor, which consisted of $10,000 in back pay and $55,000 in compensatory damages. The defendant also agreed to significant injunctive relief under a two-year, court-enforced consent decree. The decree requires defendant to revise its policies regarding granting waivers of certain pre-employment health screening requirements for qualified applicants with a disability. The decree also requires training of Kaiser personnel regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as reporting to the EEOC on the outcome of any requests for accommodation under the new policies.

Other Information

FILING DATE: Sept. 28, 2007.