Amazon Settles After Being Sued for Accessing Workers’ Family Medical Histories

On June 15th, 2026, HR Drive reported that Amazon had settled a notable lawsuit involving workers’ medical histories. The settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing, but it underlines the fact that employers have absolutely no right to inquire about your family medical history. Employers who ask about this information may be attempting to reduce the chances of you filing a workers’ compensation claim in Chicago.

Amazon Comes Under Fire for Pre-Employment Physical

In regard to specific roles that require considerable physical exertion, Amazon implemented a standardized “pre-employment physical” analysis. While this requirement seemed to be standard across the country, Amazon only faced consequences in Illinois because of the state’s strong regulations against collecting “genetic information.”

Plaintiffs alleged that Amazon directly asked them about their family medical history before they could gain employment. The implication is that Amazon was trying to “weed out” workers who had a high likelihood of filing workers’ compensation claims in the future. Workers claim that they were forced to divulge private information about occurrences of cancer, diabetes, stroke, heart conditions, and mental disorders within their families.

Under the Illinois Genetic Information Privacy Act, these kinds of pre-employment questions are completely illegal. Federal laws such as the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act also ban this kind of behavior. Amazon publicly denied these allegations, although its willingness to avoid a public trial perhaps speaks volumes.

Back in 2024, Amazon reached a settlement with OSHA, promising to find new ways to reduce workplace injuries at its warehouses. This settlement came up during the Illinois lawsuit as plaintiffs argued Amazon was attempting to “preemptively” reduce injuries by simply filtering out workers with family histories of medical issues.

In other words, the plaintiffs argued that Amazon would rather screen out high-risk employees than actually improve safety practices at its workplaces. For a company that focuses so much on data and the digital world, this response is perhaps unsurprising (assuming the plaintiff’s characterizations are correct). After all, it is easier to cross out names on a list than make physical safety improvements in a warehouse.

Although Amazon never took this case to court, its argument may have been to shift blame to a third-party clinic network responsible for carrying out these pre-employment physicals. Amazon could potentially argue that this third party used a standardized form without taking into account Illinois’ unique restrictions against the collection of genetic data. However, this does not explain the violations of the almost identical federal law against collecting genetic data.

Can a Workers’ Compensation Lawyer in Chicago Help Me?

If you’re having some kind of issue with your workers’ compensation claim because of your family medical history, contact an experienced lawyer immediately. Under Illinois law, your family’s medical history should not even be a factor in your workers’ comp claim. Learn more by contacting the experienced Chicago workers’ comp lawyers at Connolly Injury Law.

Sources:

hrdive.com/news/amazon-lawsuit-family-medical-history-illinois/822935/

seattletimes.com/business/amazon/amazon-osha-reach-settlement-over-warehouse-safety-citations/