Dutch-based global recruitment giant Randstad will pay US$50k (£34.6k) to settle a discrimination lawsuit after its Baltimore, US arm refused to hire a recovering drug addict. 

The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) brought a claim against the recruiter on behalf of jobseeker April Cox, who had applied for a vacant production labourer job at one of the agency’s clients. 

According to an EEOC statement this week, Randstad deemed Cox eligible to progress to the next round of the recruitment process, which included a site manager asking her to provide a urine sample for a drug test. 

Cox then disclosed she was in a medically supervised methadone treatment programme to which the manager said: “I’m sure we don’t hire people on methadone but I will contact my supervisor.”

EEOC claimed that even though Cox repeatedly called back and informed the site manager she did not have any medical restrictions from performing the labourer role, Randstad told Cox it would not hire her because she used methadone. 

Randstad said in a statement it was “proud of its commitment to equal employment opportunity”.

“The company has robust policies, procedures and training in place to ensure that applicants and employees are treated fairly and in compliance with the law.”

It added it did not admit any liability and “after assessing alternatives”, decided an early resolution of the lawsuit was a “better alternative” than lengthy and expensive litigation. 

According to the EEOC, in addition to the $50k in monetary relief to Cox, Randstad will advise all employees responsible for conducting pre-employment drug screenings that applicants shall not be rejected for hire because of a lawful prescribed medication, including methadone, or participation in a treatment programme. 

Randstad will also provide staff training on the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The Act, brought in by US Congress in 1990, is intended to protect against discrimination based on disability.

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