## Facts

- Robert J. Parker worked as a long-haul commercial truck driver for Crete Carrier Corporation.
- Crete implemented a screening program addressing obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a condition that can cause sleep-related breathing interruptions and daytime sleepiness affecting driving safety.
- Relying on federal advisory recommendations, Crete required drivers with a body mass index (BMI) of 35 or higher to complete an in-lab sleep study to assess OSA risk.
- Parker’s DOT physical indicated a BMI above 35; Crete directed him to undergo the sleep study.
- Parker obtained a letter from a physician assistant stating a sleep study was not medically necessary and refused the exam.
- Crete declined to provide Parker further work because he would not comply with the required medical examination.
- In litigation, Crete offered expert testimony from a sleep-medicine specialist concerning OSA driving risks, the relationship between obesity/BMI and OSA risk, and the diagnostic reliability of sleep studies; Parker sought to exclude the testimony under Daubert.

## Issues

1. Whether the district court abused its discretion by admitting Crete’s expert testimony on OSA, BMI-based screening, and sleep-study diagnosis.
2. Whether requiring drivers with BMI ≥ 35 to undergo an in-lab sleep study was a permissible medical examination under ADA § 12112(d)(4) as “job-related and consistent with business necessity.”
3. Whether Crete reasonably defined the class of drivers subject to testing by using a BMI ≥ 35 threshold.
4. Whether suspending/removing Parker from work for refusing the sleep study constituted ADA discrimination based on a perceived disability.

## Decision

- The Eighth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for Crete.
- The district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the expert testimony; it was used to support general propositions relevant to safety and screening rather than to diagnose Parker individually.
- Crete’s sleep-study requirement for drivers with BMI ≥ 35 was job-related and consistent with business necessity under ADA § 12112(d)(4).
- Crete reasonably defined the tested class by selecting a BMI cutoff supported by recognized medical and federal advisory recommendations.
- Because the exam was lawful, removing Parker from work for refusing it did not constitute ADA discrimination.

## Legal Principles

- Under ADA § 12112(d)(4), an employer may require a medical examination of a current employee when the examination is job-related and consistent with business necessity.
- For safety-sensitive positions, an examination can satisfy business necessity when supported by reliable medical evidence linking the screened condition to impaired safe job performance.
- An employer may use a risk-based criterion (such as a BMI threshold) if it reasonably defines the class of employees to be examined based on recognized recommendations and evidence.
- Discipline for refusing a lawful, business-necessary medical examination is not, without more, actionable disability discrimination.

## Conclusion

The court upheld a motor carrier’s BMI-based sleep-study requirement as a permissible ADA medical examination tied to roadway safety and held that an employee’s work suspension for refusing that lawful exam was not ADA discrimination.


Parker v. Crete Carrier Corp., 839 F.3d 717 (8th Cir. 2016)