EEOC clarifies position on high school diploma requirement

Remember late last year, when the EEOC indicated that companies which required employees to have a high school diploma could be in violation of the ADA? The resulting uproar has resulted in the agency issuing further guidance on the subject.
The controversy was started by an “informal discussion” letter from Equal Employment Opportunity Commission attorney Aaron Konopasky last December (to read our original story, go here.)
Acknowledging that Konopasky’s missive sparked “significant commentary and conjecture” about exactly where the agency stood on the issue, the EEOC has posted a series of questions and answers on its website.
Bottom line: Employers still have the option of requiring employees to be high school graduates. “However, the employer may have to allow someone who says that a disability has prevented him from obtaining a high school diploma to demonstrate qualification for the job in some other way,” the agency says.
What might that entail? The EEOC says it could mean considering work experience in the same or similar jobs, or allowing the candidate to demonstrate performance of the job’s essential functions.
The guidance emphasizes the fact that the ADA “only protects someone whose disability makes it impossible for him or her to get a diploma.  It would not protect someone who simply decided not to get a high school diploma.”
And employers are still free to make the decision about who’s most qualified for any job opening: “Even if the applicant with a disability can demonstrate the ability to do the job through some means other than possession of a high school diploma, the employer may still choose the best qualified person for the job.  The employer does not have to prefer the applicant with a disability over someone who can perform the job better,” the agency says.
And one final item: The recent guidance letter isn’t the first time the high school diploma requirement has been at issue. EEOC cites a 1971 Supreme Court case in which the court found “a high school diploma requirement was discriminatory because it had a disparate impact on African Americans who had high school diploma rates far lower than whites in the relevant geographical area, and because the requirement was not job related for the position in question and consistent with business necessity.”