New Hanover hospital sued for disability discrimination

The EEOC has sued the New Hanover Regional Medical Center over its policy of refusing to hire people who take legally prescribed narcotics. The lawsuit alleges the policy violates the ADA because the center is regarding all employees taking prescription narcotics as disabled when they are not.

The ADA requires employers to conduct individual assessments of employees' conditions and engage in an interactive process to find reasonable accommodations that allow them to perform their jobs.

The lawsuit claims the center failed to do this.