The 'devious defecator' case shows why employers should never ask for DNA | Jessica L Roberts

Workplace privacy is more than if your boss digs into your genetic markers

If someone poops on the floor at work, can your boss test your DNA to see if you're the culprit? That is what Federal District Judge Amy Totenberg was asked to decide in the case of the "devious defecator."

In 2012, the longhaul transportation and storage company Atlas Logistics discovered that someone had been defecating in its warehouse and suspected it was a disgruntled employee. The company wanted to analyze the "offending fecal matter" - and their employees' DNA via cheek swabs - to identify the culprit. Two employees, Jack Lowe and Dennis Reynolds, sued. They claimed that Atlas violated the little-known Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (Gina) by taking their genetic information. (Neither Lowe nor Reynolds was a match. The true devious defecator remains at large.)