Ethical Considerations of Genetic Testing in the Workplace

Susan Gustafson Business Ethics Professor Mark Matthews, Ph.D. April 6, 2004 Ethical Considerations of Genetic Testing in the Workplace The use of genetic testing is on the rise in the American workplace. According to a 1998 survey by the American Management Association, 10% of American employers now routinely test employees for predispositions to disease.1 While employers attempt to justify it, workers and their agents try to abolish it and the government half- heartedly controls it, my essay concentrates …

…worker privacy rights and acknowledge the potential for discrimination in association with the use of genetic screening.7 The only way to stop abusive, demeaning and discriminatory genetic testing practices in the U.S., would be to pass necessary protective legislation. I believe Kupfer would agree legislation is needed to combat the abuses of workplace screening. The Wicks Group? I believe they need to wake up and pull their heads out of the "genetic screening" sand.