Genetic Screening in the Work Place

Genetic Screening in the Workplace

(thesis paper)

Workplace gene screening can be used to ferret out the weakest candidates for employment and minimize the related costs of decreased productivity, health insurance, retraining, relocation, and improvement of working conditions. The issue of genetic discrimination involves a severe conflict of interests. On one hand, the defenders of human rights proclaim that excluding workers from jobs on the basis of their genetic make up is immoral and threatens the life chances of large groups of people. On the other side, employers have a legitimate interest in hiring healthy workers to ensure high productivity and soaring profits. From their perspective, genetic prejudice is economically efficient.

In my paper, I will argue that testing for genetic abnormalities is ethically unwarranted. It concerns not only the invasion of privacy but also the unjust ostracism of individuals arising from a genetic contingency which is beyond their control. In addition, technology still cannot precisely predict the outcome of a disease and its degree of severity, hence perfect discrimination is not feasible. I will use this to