Abbott Labs Hit With Privacy Suit Over Medical History Questions

Illinois-based Abbott Laboratories required job applicants to disclose their family medical histories in violation of the state’s Genetic Information Privacy Act, a proposed federal class action said.

Plaintiff Quentin Nixon-Cobb alleged that Abbott required him to provide information about whether members of his family had a history of diabetes when he applied for jobs assembling Covid test kits in November 2020 and in the summer of 2022.

The lawsuit is latest in a series of similar suits against employers challenging the practice of asking job applicants to provide information related to their family medical histories. Other prominent defendants include AbbVie ...