North Carolina § 95-28 - 1A. Discrimination against persons based on genetic testing or genetic information prohibited.

§ 95-28. 1A. Discrimination against persons based on genetic testing or genetic information prohibited.

No person, firm, corporation, unincorporated association, State agency, unit of local government, or any public or private entity shall deny or refuse employment to any person or discharge any person from employment on account of the person's having requested genetic testing or counseling services, or on the basis of genetic information obtained concerning the person or a member of the person's family. This section shall not be construed to prevent the person from being discharged for cause. As used in this section, the term "genetic test" means a test for determining the presence or absence of genetic characteristics in an individual or a member of the individual's family in order to diagnose a genetic condition or characteristic or ascertain susceptibility to a genetic condition. The term "genetic characteristic" means any scientifically or medically identifiable genes or chromosomes, or alterations or products thereof, which are known individually or in combination with other characteristics to be a cause of a disease or disorder, or determined to be associated with a statistically increased risk of development of a disease or disorder, and which are asymptomatic of any disease or disorder. The term "genetic information" means information about genes, gene products, or inherited characteristics that may derive from an individual or a family member. History (1997-350, s. 2.) Legal Periodicals. - For note, "'Hair' Today, Gone Tomorrow: How Immutable Traits May Become the New Face of Discrimination as Interpreted in Equal Employment Opportunity Comm'n v. Catastrophe Mgmt. Sols.," see 39 N.C. Cent. L. Rev. 166 (2017).