DOJ Proposes Settlement in First ADA Case Involving Opioid Use Disorder

Suboxone is often used in place of methadone as a heroin substitute in programs providing maintenance treatment for opioid dependence. The drug is often sold in the form of a thin, dissolvable film. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Wednesday that it had filed a complaint and proposed a settlement of its first Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) discrimination claim involving an employee with “opioid use disorder” (OUD).

The employee was allegedly discriminated against by his employer, a sheriff’s department in Tennessee.