The High Court ruling on the New Haven, CT, firefighters’ case seems as if should have some relevance to the day-to-day job of being an HR manager. Except it probably doesn’t.
To recap the case of Ricci v. DeStefano:
Eighteen white employees and one Hispanic passed a firefighter promotion test. No black employees passed the test. The whites later sued the city after officials nixed the test results — and in fact dropped the test altogether — when the officials feared they’d be sued by black test-takers claiming that the test discriminated against and had a disparate impact on blacks.
The white employees took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court and won. The Supremes, in a 5-4 vote, said the city had to go by the test results. (Of no small significance — publicity-wise — was the fact that the High Court overruled the judgment of Supreme Court nominee Sandra Sotomayor.)
Countless employment-law attorneys are now dissecting what the ruling means to you and your particular organization. Our guess is that, for most HR managers, the impact amounts to a big, fat zero.
First of all, the test in question was a promotions test, not a hiring test. Second, it was administered by a unit of government. Third, no one really has been able to nail the overall impact of the ruling.
Most employment tests these days are what are called “assessments,” meaning they test particular skills needed for the job in question. In fact, the City of New Haven officials have mentioned they they’re moving to such tests, which are supposed to measure relevant factors instead of general knowledge or intelligence. So the ruling on the firefighters’ case has a further “who cares?” factor — unless you happen to be one of the eighteen who got denied a promotion. (And if you are, we suggest you look elsewhere for relevant post mortems of the ruling.)
Now, maybe you use Wonderlic or personality testing as a tool for hiring, but it’s doubtful that you rest your entire hiring decision on the results. If you do, we humbly suggest you consider changing your ways.
Be assured that the Supreme Court ruling has nothing to do with Wonderlic. In fact, we doubt it has much to do with anything of interest to you.
Unless, of course, you happen to be an employment-law attorney who’s looking to drum up a little more business.
