Inquiries by Employer as to Existence of Disability; Employment Decisions Based on Disability

1. Law
2. Georgia Code
3. Labor and Industrial Relations
4. Equal Employment for Persons With Disabilities
5. Inquiries by Employer as to Existence of Disability; Employment Decisions Based on Disability

1. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prevent an employer from making any job related inquiry about the existence of the disability of an applicant for employment and about the extent to which that disability has been overcome by treatment, medication, appliances, or other rehabilitation.
2. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prohibit the rejection of an applicant for employment on the basis of:
   1. A disability which interferes with a person's ability to perform assigned job duties adequately; or
   2. Any communicable disease, either carried by or afflicting the applicant.
3. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prevent or otherwise make illegal any employment decision affecting any person where such decision is based upon an employer's good faith reliance upon a professional opinion rendered by a licensed physician, rehabilitation specialist, psychologist, physical therapist, dentist, or other similar licensed health care professional concerning that person.

(Code 1933, § 66-503, enacted by Ga. L. 1981, p. 1803, § 2; Ga. L. 1995, p. 1302, § 4.)

Cross references.

- Policy of state with regard to employment of the disabled by state or political subdivisions, § 30-1-2.

Access to and use of public buildings and facilities by the handicapped, T. 30, C. 3.

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Good faith.

- Employer proved it acted in good faith when it relied on a doctor's opinion regarding a diabetic warehouse employee's ability to work, when the employer's affidavit stated that the decision to terminate the employee was not based on any personal animosity towards the employee but was made "only" out of concern for potential safety problems posed by the employee's medical condition. Spicer v. Martin-Brower Co., 177 Ga. App. 197, 338 S.E.2d 773 (1985).

Employer may rely on licensed physician's professional recommendation.

- Summary judgment for an employer was affirmed when the employer submitted evidence tending to establish without dispute both that its employment decision was made in reliance upon the professional recommendation of a licensed physician and that its preference of that physician's opinion over the contrary opinion of the employee's personal physician was based upon safety concerns rather than upon an unlawful, discriminatory motive. Daugherty v. Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Auth., 187 Ga. App. 864, 371 S.E.2d 677 (1988).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

C.J.S.

- 14 C.J.S., Civil Rights, §§ 109, 110.

ALR.

- Construction and application of § 102(d) of Americans with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C.A. § 12112(d)) pertaining to medical examinations and inquiries, 159 A.L.R. Fed. 89.

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