To make sure the best applicants are consistently hired and promoted, many companies rank candidates based on a numerical score hiring managers assign during the interview. But when not carried out correctly, that process can spell big legal trouble.
One recent case involved a 59-year-old employee who applied for two promotions.
The employer’s selection process was simple: All candidates who met the minimum requirements were interviewed by a panel of managers. Everyone was asked the same questions, and each panel member gave the candidates a score for each response.
All the scores were added up, and the candidate with the highest total got the job.
The employee lost his bid for two promotions to significantly younger candidates. One time, he was beaten by a 30-year-old with less experience who scored just one point higher on the assessment. The other successful candidate was 42 and had less education.
He sued, claiming he was denied the jobs because of his age. The company argued it was just following its policy of promoting the candidate who scored highest on the interview.
But the court didn’t buy the company’s defense. The problem: Records of the interviews showed that the members of the panel kept no notes about each candidate’s performance in the interview — they just wrote down the scores.
Numbers alone won’t cut it
The employee showed he had more education and experience than the candidates who were promoted and claimed his lower scores were based on his age. Then it was up to the company to prove the scoring process was unbiased.
But without any notes from the interviewers, it couldn’t show why the employee was ranked lower. The company failed to have the case thrown out and will now face a costly trial or pay a big settlement.
The court made sure to note that awarding jobs based on a consistent interview scoring process is not inherently discriminatory. But without documentation to back up the numbers, companies won’t be able to prove scores were handed out fairly.
Cite: Lovell v. Covenant Homeland Security Solutions, Ltd.
