Shipbuilder Sued Over Bias Against Worker on Opioid Treatment

The EEOC sued Bollinger Shipyards LLC for disability bias, alleging the shipbuilder placed a worker on unpaid leave because she used prescription medication to treat opioid dependency.

The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleges that Bollinger placed the worker, a shipfitter at its Pascagoula, Miss. facility, on involuntary indefinite unpaid leave after learning of her prescription for medication to treat opioid dependency, the agency said in a press release Friday.

Despite the worker performing her job safely and competently while under a physician’s supervision, Bollinger excluded her based on generalized fears or stereotypical assumptions about her disability, the agency said. ...