Iowa Woman With Paruresis Suing Hospital For Not Accommodating 'Shy Bladder' During Drug Test

An Iowa woman is suing a hospital where she was seeking employment as an administrator, claiming they failed to accommodate her shy bladder syndrome.

The woman, Jennifer Conner, applied for a position as an organ transplant financial coordinator with Iowa Methodist Medical Center, the Associated Press reports.

Conner, who received a master's degree in health care administration from Des Moines University in May 2012, was offered the position June 22 as long as she agreed to take a drug test. However, Conner was diagnosed with paruresis as a teenager — an anxiety condition, also known as "shy bladder" syndrome that prevents her from urinating in public restrooms or around other people.

Conner sometimes camouflages the sound of her urination by running water or flushing a toilet while in a public restroom, a coping mechanism that allows her to urinate in public or around other people. But when she went to the facility where she was assigned to take the drug test, she had no running water, according to her lawsuit, which also described nurses knocking on the door asking for Conner's urine sample, only increasing her anxiety.

Connor says she requested alternate arrangements be made in order to accommodate her condition and even offered to pay for a catheter to extract her urine or a blood-based drug test. But the company still refused, according to the lawsuit, and told her that she had until the end of the day to complete the urine test or they would count it as a failure.

Conner's attorney, Tom Foley, says that his client's shy bladder syndrome falls under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. Conner is now asking the court to issue an order to prevent Iowa Methodist from discriminating against individuals with disabilities, according to the lawsuit. She is also asking for damages, including lost wages, benefits, attorneys' fees, emotional distress and pain and suffering. The amount in damages requested in Connor's lawsuit is unspecified.