EEOC Sues Talecris Plasma Resources and Grifols for Disability Discrimination

DENVER – Talecris Plasma Resources, operator of blood plasma donation centers under the Grifols family of companies, violated federal law when it failed to make reasonable accommodation for a job applicant’s disability and rescinded her job offer based on the need to make reasonable accommodation, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, a nurse who applied for position at a Pueblo, Colorado plasma donation center in March 2022 had her job offer revoked in April after she asked for an accommodation for her alcohol and substance use disorders. The nurse successfully completed a drug rehabilitation program eight months earlier and was participating in a treatment program with Colorado’s Peer Assistance Services, Inc. for health care professionals.

After being offered the job, the nurse informed Talecris of her disability and that she needed an accommodation. Talecris refused to accommodate the nurse and rescinded her job offer. Talecris refused to provide exceptions from the company’s alleged policies against employing nurses with license restrictions and providing reports as part of treatment programs, even though the applicant’s license restrictions did not impact her ability to perform the job and the time requirement to complete the treatment program report was approximately 10 to 15 minutes.

“The ADA protects applicants and employees who request reasonable accommodations for their disabilities,” said Mary Jo O’Neill, regional attorney for the EEOC. “This includes individuals with substance use disorders who have completed a rehabilitation program and are not currently engaged in illegal drug use.”

This alleged conduct violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination based on disability, denying employment opportunities based on the need to provide reasonable accommodations for applicants’ disabilities, and requires employers provide reasonable accommodations for those disabilities, absent undue hardship. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Talecris Plasma Resources, et al., Case No. 1:25-cv-03066) in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

EEOC District Director Melinda Caraballo said, “Job applicants have a protected right to reasonable accommodation for their disabilities. The EEOC remains committed to enforcing the ADA and eliminating disability discrimination in the workforce.”

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

The EEOC’s Phoenix District Office has jurisdiction over Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and parts of New Mexico.

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 is responsible for investigating charges against state and local government employers before referring them to DOJ for potential litigation. 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. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.