What does the ADA say about pre-employment medical examinations?
Under the ADA, it is illegal to conduct medical exams prior to an employment offer. However, a covered entity may require a medical examination after making an offer of employment to a job applicant before beginning his or her employment duties, and may condition an offer of employment on the results of such examination, if all entering employees in the same job category are subjected to such an examination regardless of disability. If the employer withdraws a job offer because the medical examination reveals that the person does not satisfy certain employment criteria, the employer must be able to show that: • the exclusionary criteria does not screen out or tend to screen out an individual with a disability or a class of individuals with disabilities; or • the exclusionary criteria is job-related and consistent with business necessity, and that there is no reasonable accommodation that will permit the individual with a disability to perform the essential functions of the job.
