Ask a Lawyer - Archive

I interviewed for new job. To be considered for the position, I had to take an assesment and personality test. The personality test asked very inrtusive questions related to sexual orientation, religous practices and mental and physical state being. I can't see how this is allowed and what it has to do with the position I was applying for. The position was retail in nature. Is this legal?

Employers are allowed to use personality tests and other assessment tools that are not necessarily related to the job that you're applying for. They are also allowed to ask questions about things like sexual orientation, religion, and even age and your family status. What an employer cannot do, and why most employers do not ask those kinds of questions to job applicants, is to discriminate against you based on information they obtain from answering certain kinds of questions. For example, because Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of an employee or applicant's religion, an employer cannot ask an applicant what religion he or she is, and then hire a different candidate because the employer has a preference for the other candidate's religious beliefs. Thus, gathering the information about your religion or other characteristics is not per se illegal; it is what the employer chooses to do with that information (i.e. chooses not to hire you because of what it has learned) that is illegal.