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Friday, July 03, 2009

Law - Impact of Ricci on private employers in NE Indiana

Jenni Glenn and Marty Schladen have a story today in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette headed "Local job tests avoid bias: Applicant quizzes unlikely to defy high court ruling, area experts say." The story begins:

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling this week involving employment likely will have little effect on the practices of northeast Indiana’s private employers, several observers said.

Private-sector employers usually don’t rely on written tests when deciding whom to promote, hire and fire. Those that do are careful to avoid bias based on age, race, gender or other irrelevant factors, they said.

“We don’t do that type of testing,” said Roy Wiley of Warrenville, Ill.-based Navistar International Inc. Navistar subsidiary International Truck and Engine Corp. employs about 1,300 in Fort Wayne. “I can’t imagine any corporation like us does.”

Fort Wayne employment lawyer John W. Bowers said the issue decided by the court was a close one. It said an employer can’t throw out the results of a test just because of the results.

“I don’t know that it’s going to make a great deal of difference,” Bowers said.

The Supreme Court didn’t rule whether the New Haven, Conn., fire department’s test questions were acceptable, said George Raymond, vice president of human resources and labor relations for the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. The decision said employers couldn’t use tests to discriminate against racial groups. It might encourage employers who use tests to review them to ensure they’re fair, he said.

Two local employers – Grabill Bank and Indiana Michigan Power – say the ruling won’t change the aptitude tests they give job applicants.

For more on Ricci, see this June 29th ILB entry.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 3, 2009 09:37 AM
Posted to General Law Related