A plasma collection company with locations in Central Illinois is updating its policies after the Illinois Attorney General filed suit claiming the company discriminated against the disabled.
Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced today his office reached a settlement with plasma collection company CSL Plasma Inc. (CSL) and its parent company, CSL Behring LLC.
Raoul filed the lawsuit in June 2020 in response to complaints from Illinois residents who were prevented from donating plasma because of their disabilities. Raoul alleged that CSL’s policies violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Illinois Human Rights Act.
According to the suit, an investigation was opened into complaints filed by people who attempted to donate but were turned away by the staff.
In one instance a woman was told she could not donate plasma because she used a service animal. In another case, staff refused access to donation services for a deaf man who had requested an American Sign Language interpreter to be on hand. He was told by employees that providing ASL interpreters violated CSL policy.
Under the settlement agreement, CSL adopted the state of Illinois’ recommendations to update policies and procedures to allow individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, or use service animals to provide plasma.
Raoul said in the announcement, “Individuals with disabilities should not face discrimination from a business simply for requesting the reasonable accommodation to which they are entitled”.