In Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. BNSF Railway Company, the Court held that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission satisfied the elements of a 42 U.S.C. Sec. 12112(a) claim by showing an employer had perceived a qualified job applicant as having a disability and that the employer had impermissibly conditioned its offer of employment on the applicant’s procurement of a diagnostic test for his perceived disability, at his own expense. Plaintiff received a conditional job offer from BNSF Railway Company (“BNSF”) for the position of Senior Patrol Officer, contingent on his satisfactory completion of a post-offer medical review. During that medical review, he disclosed that he had injured his back four years before.  His primary care doctor, his chiropractor, and the doctor BNSF’s subcontractor hired to examine plaintiff all determined that he had no current limitations due to his back and found no need for follow-up testing.  Yet as an effective condition to consider him further for the job, BNSF demanded that the plaintiff  submit an MRI of his back—at his own cost—or it would treat him as having declined the offer.  Plaintiff was in bankruptcy at that time and did not obtain an MRI.  As a result, BNSF revoked the job offer. The district court found BNSF violated the ADA and issued an injunction. The Ninth Circuit upheld the findings of a violation.

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