There’s still some additional information needed here so we can learn more about this case. It comes back around to “breast cancer” and a woman losing her job as they found out she tested positive for the BRCA2 gene. Now it states “she told them” of the results so I think that’s the part we need to hear more about as to the 
when’s and who’s here.
Could this have been a casual conversation that lead to this, we don’t know yet, but it appears the woman who had the test and double mastectomy is not desiring to hide much on what he had done. With the new interpretations health risk assessments cannot include family medical history. This is amazing how this filed out as that is helpful for doctors to diagnose and treat; however we have to be protected from those who will use the information against us with health insurance primarily. If you have a bad gene you’re going to have to pay is the issue this is supposed to eradicate. Incentives are also under scrutiny here with wellness programs.
Wellness Programs Get Thrown a Left Hook From GINA – No Family Medical History Allowed on a Health Risk Assessment
It just comes down to being monetarily penalized for either self created or inherited conditions that we as humans have, which is sad, but current business models that focus so heavily on risk management rather than education send us to this point with the data intense analytics that we use today. That being said, it will be interesting to hear more as this case moves forward. ABC news added a video since the I first posted and here’s the update. BD
In what appears to be the first publicly identified case of its kind, a Connecticut woman has accused her employer of violating the recently enacted federal Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA). According to a story in the Boston Herald (discovered thanks to a tip from Matt Mealiffe), 39-year-old Pamela Fink received an elective double mastectomy last year after testing positive for mutations in her BRCA2 gene associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. Fink alleges that, despite giving her “glowing evaluations for years,” her employer, MXenergy, “targeted, demoted and eventually dismissed her when she told them of the genetic tests results.”
GINA, which was passed by Congress in 2008 and took effect last year, represents the most comprehensive effort to date to regulate the use of genetic information by employers (Title II) and health care insurers (Title I). Under Section 201(a)(i) of GINA, employers with more than 15 employees may not “discriminate against any employee with respect to the compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment…because of genetic information.”
GINA in Action: Woman alleges genetic test led to firing
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