August 22, 2023
Decided August 21, 2023
Raines v. U.S. Healthworks Medical Group, S273630
This week, the California Supreme Court held that a business entity acting as an agent of an employer may be held directly liable as an “employer” for alleged violations of California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act.
Background: Plaintiffs Kristina Raines and Darrick Figg were job applicants who received offers of employment contingent upon passing a medical screening. The screening included a detailed health history questionnaire that the applicants were required to complete.
These pre-employment screenings were not conducted by the plaintiffs’ prospective employers, but instead by third-party occupational health services providers. Plaintiffs sued these providers on behalf of a putative class, alleging that the questions were intrusive and overbroad in violation of California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act, or the FEHA. Plaintiffs sued in state court, and the providers removed the case to federal court.
The FEHA generally precludes “any employer or employment agency” from “requir[ing] a medical or physical examination” of a job applicant. Cal. Gov’t Code § 12940(e)(1). It does, however, allow employers to require such examinations of a “job applicant after an employment offer has been made,” so long as the examination is “job related and consistent with business necessity.” Id. § 12940(e)(3). The statute elsewhere defines “employer” as “any person regularly...
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