Intrusive Employment: Breaching Employee Privacy Rights
Christine Demark worked as a sales representative, and excelled in her position. Excelled that
is, until one day she decided to undergo genetic testing at the University of Michigan. The
conclusion of the tests was that Christine was genetically at risk for Huntington's disease. During
the course of a phone conversation with the University doctors, a coworker overheard her and
relayed the information to Christine's supervisor. As a result, Christine's employer demoted her
to a customer service position, stating that her current job was too stressful, and months later
firing her altogether (Spice, 2000). While this is a sad story, stories such as Christine's are
becoming all too familiar within the business world. Gone are the days of separation between
profession and private life. With the use of genetic testing and electronic communications
monitoring, employees' privacy rights are fast becoming an endangered species.
Intrusive Employment 3
"Genetic tests can provide presymptomatic medical information about an individual,
including information about an individual's increased risk of future disease, disability, or early
death" (Miller, 1998, p. 189). According to surveys from both the U.S. Department of Labor and
the American Management Association, companies using genetic testing for employment
purposes have risen from 1.6% to nearly 10% between 1982 and 1997. While employers and
insurance companies alike will argue that the reasons for these tests are well-founded,
proclaiming such tests a necessary step in fighting increasing health care costs, it does not
provide an answer to why employees are being fired over health issues.
The most dangerous aspect o ...