EEOC Sues Bollinger Shipyards for Continuing Disability Discrimination

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Bollinger Shipyards, LLC, a provider of marine construction, repair and conversion services employing more than 300 workers at 10 shipyards across the Mississippi and Louisiana coasts, and its subsidiary Bollinger Mississippi Shipbuilder, LLC, violated federal law by rescinding job offers after learning of applicants’ prescription medications, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit announced today.

According to the suit, between October 2024 through February 2025, the companies offered jobs to five highly qualified and experienced applicants at their Pascagoula, Mississippi shipyard. However, the companies withdrew the offers based solely on potential side effects of their prescription medications without confirming if the applicants actually experienced them.

The EEOC previously sued Bollinger for similar conduct in September 2025.

“Employers cannot base hiring decisions on blanket assumptions about an applicant who takes a prescription medication without inquiring into whether or not the individual experiences any side effects,” said acting EEOC Birmingham District Director Linda Sales-Long. “Employers cannot rely solely on drug manufacturers’ listing of potential side effects as proof that an applicant cannot safely perform a job.”

This alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which guarantees equal employment opportunity to individuals with disabilities. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Bollinger Shipyards, LLC, et al., Case No. 1:26-cv-00284-HSO-BWR) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

EEOC Birmingham District Regional Attorney Marsha Rucker said, “The EEOC is committed to enforcing workers’ statutory right to be evaluated based on their actual abilities rather than stereotypes or generalizations.”

For more information on disability discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/disability-discrimination.

The EEOC’s Birmingham District has jurisdiction over Alabama, Mississippi (except 17 northern counties) and the Florida Panhandle.

The EEOC is the sole federal agency authorized to investigate and litigate against businesses and other private sector employers for violations of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. For public sector employers, the EEOC shares jurisdiction with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. The EEOC also is responsible for coordinating the federal government’s employment antidiscrimination effort. More information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov.