Pre-Employment Personality Testing May Violate the ADA

The Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has recently ruled that an employer violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it used a personality test on prospective managers. In Karraker v. Rent-A-Center, Inc. (2005 WL 1389443), the employer required prospective managers to take the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), a test that the employer said was used to measure personality traits. However, the MMPI is often used to help diagnose mental disorders such as depression, hypochondriasis, hysteria, paranoia and mania.