Law / United States / 
Delaware
Employment practices: employer collection of genetic information
Del. Code Ann. tit. 19, § 711(f)
In force.
A sensitive categories rule binding public and private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Prohibition
- Audit expectation
- none
As of .
What it requires
- If you are an employer (a person employing 4 or more employees in Delaware, including the State and its political subdivisions), an employment agency, a labor union or a joint labor-management committee controlling apprenticeship or other training, do not intentionally collect, directly or indirectly, any genetic information concerning an employee, an applicant for employment or a member of their family, unless you can demonstrate that the information is job-related and consistent with business necessity, or the information or access to it is sought in connection with a retirement policy or system or the underwriting or administration of a bona fide employee welfare or benefit plan.
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
If you get it wrong
Private right of actionYes
Statutory damages
After the Department of Labor ends its administrative process and issues a Delaware Right to Sue Notice, the charging party may sue in the Superior Court (sections 714 and 715). An award of compensatory or punitive damages, or both, may not exceed $50,000 for a respondent with 4 through 14 employees, $75,000 for 15 through 100, $175,000 for 101 through 200, $300,000 for 201 through 500 and $500,000 for more than 500 employees (section 715(c)). The court may also order back pay, front pay, equitable relief and the prevailing party's costs and reasonable attorney's fees (section 715(b)).
- As of
- Currency
- USD
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Delaware Department of Labor, which investigates charges and may commence civil actions in the Superior Court (19 Del. C. section 712), and the Attorney General, who may sue in the Court of Chancery over a pattern or practice (section 713).
What this law does
Section 711(f) of title 19 makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer, employment agency, labor union or joint labor-management committee controlling apprenticeship or other training to intentionally collect, directly or indirectly, any genetic information concerning an employee or applicant for employment, or a member of their family.
The bar in section 711(f) of title 19 does not apply where the information is job-related and consistent with business necessity, or is sought in connection with the retirement policy or system of an employer or the underwriting or administration of a bona fide employee welfare or benefit plan. Chapter 457 of volume 71 of the Laws of Delaware, which inserted the genetic information collection limit into section 711 of title 19, was approved .
In subchapter II of chapter 7 of title 19, genetic information means the results of a genetic test as defined in section 2317(a)(3) of title 18. In subchapter II of chapter 7 of title 19, job related and consistent with business necessity means the condition in question renders the individual unable to perform the essential functions of the position that the individual holds or desires.
In subchapter II of chapter 7 of title 19, an employer is any person employing 4 or more employees within the State at the time of the alleged violation, including the State or any political subdivision or board, department, commission or school district of the State. A person claiming to be aggrieved must first file a charge of discrimination with the Department of Labor within 300 days of the alleged unlawful employment practice or its discovery.
Subchapter II of chapter 7 of title 19 affords the sole remedy for claims alleging a violation of the chapter, to the exclusion of all other remedies. In a civil action under sections 714 and 715 of title 19, the Superior Court may order a respondent to pay compensatory damages, punitive damages, special damages including back pay and interest on back pay, and front pay, and to pay the costs of litigation and reasonable attorney's fees to the prevailing party.
Under section 715(c) of title 19, compensatory and punitive damages together may not exceed $50,000 for a respondent with 4 through 14 employees, rising in steps to $500,000 for a respondent with more than 500 employees.
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