Michael Haberman has a very interesting post at his HR Observations blog discussing whether the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act covers addictions potentially grounded in genetics, such as caffeine or nicotine addiction.
Michael’s post sparked the following thought. There are few questions that provoke as much debate as what makes a person gay or straight. Just as many people will tell you that sexual orientation is genetic, as will tell you it’s environmental, as will tell you it’s a combination of the two. If you accept for the sake of argument that sexual orientation has a genetic component, then if an employer fires an employee because of his or her sexual orientation, then hasn’t the employer acted “because of genetic information with respect to the employee?” And, if that’s the case, has GINA made the Employment Non-Discrimination Act moot before it has the chance to become law?
When the first sexual-orientation-as-genetic-discrimination lawsuit is filed, it will be a very interesting (and controversial) legal issue for a judge to decide.
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