PAM Transport settles EEOC disability bias suit

An Arkansas trucking firm has been ordered to pay $477,399 in a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission disability discrimination lawsuit in which it was charged with subjecting its truck-driver workforce to overly broad medical inquires.

Tontitown, Arkansas-based PAM Transport Inc.’s medical clearance policy required all drivers to notify the company whenever the driver had any contact with a medical professional, including a routine physical, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the agency said Wednesday in a statement.

The agency said that in April 2012, the U.S. District Court in Detroit issued an order mandating the company to change its medical clearance policy to make medical inquiries of drivers only when they are job-related and consistent with business necessity. To help resolve remaining issues, the court appointed a retired judge as a third-party decision-maker.

The EEOC said an order entered Feb. 26 requires PAM to pay $225,998 in back pay and interest, $9,114 in compensatory damages and $202,287 in punitive damages to 12 of its former truck drivers.

“A punitive damages award almost equal to the other awarded damages reinforces the ADA’s prohibition against impermissible medical inquiries,” said Laurie Young, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Indianapolis district, in a statement

The company’s attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.

In September, the EEOC charged a power generation equipment company with violating the ADA by requiring an employee to submit overly broad medical release forms.