6 The ADA defines individuals with disabilities as persons who 1) have a “physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more” major life activities 2) “have a record of such impairment” or 3) are “regarded as having such impairment.” 7 Title I of the ADA covers employment discrimination, and one protection that Congress has created for individuals with disabilities is the right to be free from pre-offer medical examinations in the hiring process. The principal purpose of the ADA is “to provide a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities” and to “provide clear, strong, consistent, enforceable standards” addressing such discrimination. The ADA’s Prohibition of Pre-Offer Medical Examinations Rent-a-Center (holding that the MMPI and tests based on questions from the MMPI are medical examinations prohibited in the pre-offer stage of the hiring process) is the correct application of the statute. This post focuses on the limitations that the ADA imposes on such testing, and concludes that the Seventh Circuit’s approach to the issue in Karraker v. One example of this uncertainty is the current split between the Seventh and Eighth Circuits on the proper application of the Americans with Disabilities Act’s (ADA) prohibition of pre-offer medical examinations 5 in the context of personality and psychological testing, particularly tests based on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). 3 Internet-based testing is a risky move for employers, because although a broad array of federal and state regulations protect job applicants from certain inquiries, there is uncertainty as to the precise requirements of these regulations, what tests can be used by employers, and who has standing to challenge the testing. 2 Many employers offer jobs in more than one jurisdiction and use these tests as part of an online application process, accessible by any job seeker with an internet connection. 1 In fact, psychological testing in the hiring process has become so prevalent that testing firms now comprise a $400 million industry a single test, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, is administered to over 2.5 million people per year. In 2006, 46 percent of US employers drew from a pool of over 8,000 different psychological and personality tests for use in screening job applicants. Used under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.
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