SA: Genetic testing could lead to employment discrimin
AAP 01.12.98 04:56
Copyright 1998 The Australian Associated Press. Redistribution
unauthorised.
By Jennifer Ashcroft
ADELAIDE, Dec 1 AAP - Genetic testing could become a dangerous,
discriminatory tool used to deny people job opportunities, a US
congresswoman said today.
United States House of Representatives Health and Human Services
representative Nita Lowey told an international conference on
genetics here, that testing could be used to determine an
individual's chances of contracting a life threatening disease.
Without sensible guidelines, such information could be used by
employers as the basis for hiring or firing.
"As more and more people do have genetic testing we have to
be extremely concerned about its effects on the workplace,"
she said.
"The danger implicit in this is not only that millions of
individuals may be unfairly denied opportunities - a threat to
the very nature of community - but that millions will decline to
be tested at all for fear that genetic information may be
misused."
Mrs Lowey said recent research conducted by the US Department of
Labour had found employers had already started to discriminate
against employees on the basis of their genetic profile.
"One individual was fired upon learning she had the mutated
gene for Huntington's disease, despite having received stellar
evaluations and three promotions in the months immediately prior
to her termination," she said.
Mrs Lowey said genetic privacy was a major issue that needed to
be addressed before testing became more common.
"If an individual cannot be assured of privacy concerning
genetic testing then they will be averse to even taking the test,
which would have a negative effect on their potential medical
treatment," she said.
Mrs Lowey said genetic testing should only be made known to the
employer when it was directly relevant to the workplace.
"For example, if a person's genetic test revealed they
cannot be in a workplace where they deal with dust, then this
kind of genetic test might be relevant to the workplace - but it
can only be revealed if the individual employee chooses to take
the test in the first place," she said.
Mrs Lowey said that without government regulation, the benefits
of genetic testing - such as individuals being able to seek
earlier treatment - would be outweighed by fear and doubt.
She said a proposed US Genetic Employment Protection Act aimed to
make it unlawful for an employer, employment agency or union to
fire or demote an employer on the basis of genetic information.
"It would also require employers to maintain the
confidentiality of any genetic information they may possess, to
keep such information separated from other personnel files,"
she said.
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