Legal Flashcards
Define adverse impact
A substantially different RATE of selection in hiring, promotion, or other employment
decision which works to the disadvantage of members of a race, sex, or ethnic group.
It is seen as unintentional discrimination because the same procedures are used to select/make other decisions, but it happens to exclude people from protected classes.
The Uniform Guidelines (EEOC, 1978)
What did the 1991 Civil Rights Act Title VII require?
The law stated that the complaining party needs to EITHER:
1) show that the employer used a particular employment practice that causes disparate impact - Then if the employer doesn’t demonstrate that their practices were based on job requirements and based on business necessity, they’d be liable/found to be discriminatory.
OR:
2) find an equally valid method and the employer doesn’t adopt it, they’d be found to be discriminatory.
Define disparate treatment vs disparate impact.
Disparate treatment discrimination= when there is evidence of discriminatory INTENT in employment decisions. This flowed from 1964 Civil Rights Act, which forbids discrimination based on race, color, sex, national origin, or religion.
Disparate impact came later, after Griggs Vs Duke, 1971 Supreme Court case. This acknowledges that procedures can discriminate even if they are objective. It is “fair in form, but discriminatory in operation.” That led to the 1991 Civil RIghts act that requires employers to demonstrate that practices are tied to job requirements and business necessity when adverse impact occurs.
What are ways to reduce stereotype threat in selection for women and minorities?
Walton et al., 2015
- Place identity related questions at end of test
- Represent tests in ways that assure test takers their performance will not be viewed as evidence for neg group stereotype
- Conduct item sensitivity analyses and remove problematic items
What is the diversity-validity dilemma?
The diversity-validity dilemma refers to a situation that requires orgs to choose between workforce diversity and optimal prediction in selection.
Traditional selection procedures rely on the ID of most relevant KSAOs to perform well on the job. They positively and linearly relate to performance.
BUT, some of the most valid procedures such as cognitive ability produce varying degrees of mean subgroup differences, with racial ethnic minorities typically scoring lower than majority groups. This creates disproportionate selection rates, known as adverse impact.
Pyburn et al., 2008
What are ways that adverse impact can be reduced (in general terms)?
Orgs can reduce AI by either minimizing sub-group differences (weighting etc) or increasing employment opportunities for minorities (i.e., affirmative action).
When can preferences be used in AAP?
Preferences can only be used when it has limited duration, they can show the group has had historical exclusion and that the majority group’s rights are not trammeled.
Within-group preference is ILLEGAL under 1991 CRA; score adjustments are ILLEGAL under Title VII.
Pyburn et al., 2008
What are the most effective categories of reducing adverse impact in selection?
1) using predictors with smaller subgroup differences (i.e., using both cog and non-cog predictors (full range KSAOs), and using alternate methods like structured interviews and assessment centers)
2) combining predictor scores (i.e., Pareto optimal weighting is better than unit weighting, can lead to increase in minority hires; DeCorte et al., 2008; Wee et al., 2017).
Ployhart and Holtz, 2008
Which strategy to reduce AI was the only one that doesn’t come with a validity tradeoff?
Assessing full range of KSAOs is the only one that does not reduce validity, and it actually enhances validity.
Other strategies may reduce validity slightly (i.e., using personality).
Ployhart and Holtz, 2008
What should be considered with banding?
It’s controversial among I-Os. The rationale to use is that no one predictor is perfectly reliable and bands recognize this by making certain “bands” scores indistinguishable. But requires using preferences within hands, otherwise reductions are small or non-existent. So it’s hard to justify and legally on shaky ground.
Ployhart and Holtz, 2008
What impact do affirmative action plans have on employment rates and performance?
Positive effect on employment rates. No impact on org performance.
Kravitz, 2008
In what circumstance do affirmative action plans lead to stigmatization?
When employees believe that the decisions are made based on preferences. In reality, most plans do not use preferences (very restricted). They are typically focused on eliminating discriminatory practices and enhancing opps.
Kravitz, 2008
What is cognitive saturation and how does it relate to adverse impact?
- Cognitive saturation is the extent to which a predictor overlaps with g (cognitive ability).
- Cognitive saturation correlated highly with Black-White (r = .84) and Hispanic-White (r = .95) difference scores on performance.
Dahlke and Sackett, 2017
What are Bona Fide Occupational Qualifications?
BFOQs are qualifications that are “reasonably necessary to the operation of that particular business”. The courts interpret them quite narrowly. NOT a viable defense of a race claim under Title VII. Would be only for sex, religion, disability.
The burden of proof rests with the employer to demonstrate this.
Cascio & Aguinis, 2018
What is cognitive saturation?
Cognitive saturation is the extent to which a predictor overlaps with cognitive ability. It helps explain Black-White group differences on many selection tools (i.e., verbal ability, unstructured interviews, etc). (Dahlke & Sackett, 2017).
A company can use their procedure to forecast mean differences on a new predictor based on its cognitive saturation and other attributes.
