4 ms·

Many of the comments below talk about potential legal liability from rejecting a candidate in an inappropriate way. Would someone care to clarify the sort of p

by ctkrohn 16y ago

Many of the comments below talk about potential legal liability from rejecting a candidate in an inappropriate way. Would someone care to clarify the sort of problems that can arise?

btilly 16y ago
There are a lot of problems that can happen. For instance if you complain about hygiene and the person has a medical condition that causes them to stink (don't laugh, this happens), you can be sued for discrimination. If the person had a thick accent and you didn't want to hire because of the communication issue (I've seen candidates rejected for this reason), they could decide that you're racist and sue you. If the candidate is older and you say a wide variety of things (that they are over-qualified, their skillset is dated, poor cultural fit, etc), you can be sued for ageism. The upshot is that it is virtually impossible to figure out what comment will hit a hot button. And there are a lot of legitimate reasons to reject someone, which aren't illegal, that they can take as evidence of discrimination. Even if it is an open and shut case that you're going to win, they can still make it cost a substantial amount of lawyer's fees. And you, personally, don't benefit from telling them this, so there is no percentage in going there. Or so every HR department in the USA will tell you. And every lawyer they get advice from.
- patio11 16y ago
  The other problem is that, if you tell Candidate X that you are not hiring her because of e.g. insufficiently experience with SQL, and it develops that you have previously hired a non-Q developer who didn't do SQL either, you now get to answer a lawsuit alleging discrimination against Q candidates. (We all know people are package deals, but if you put in writing that you hung your hat on a particular detail, then you're going to look like you're lying to cover your antiQist biases.)
- ctkrohn 16y ago
  Great answer, thanks.

by ctkrohn 16y ago

Many of the comments below talk about potential legal liability from rejecting a candidate in an inappropriate way. Would someone care to clarify the sort of problems that can arise?

btilly 16y ago

There are a lot of problems that can happen. For instance if you complain about hygiene and the person has a medical condition that causes them to stink (don't laugh, this happens), you can be sued for discrimination. If the person had a thick accent and you didn't want to hire because of the communication issue (I've seen candidates rejected for this reason), they could decide that you're racist and sue you. If the candidate is older and you say a wide variety of things (that they are over-qualified, their skillset is dated, poor cultural fit, etc), you can be sued for ageism. The upshot is that it is virtually impossible to figure out what comment will hit a hot button. And there are a lot of legitimate reasons to reject someone, which aren't illegal, that they can take as evidence of discrimination. Even if it is an open and shut case that you're going to win, they can still make it cost a substantial amount of lawyer's fees. And you, personally, don't benefit from telling them this, so there is no percentage in going there. Or so every HR department in the USA will tell you. And every lawyer they get advice from.

patio11 16y ago
The other problem is that, if you tell Candidate X that you are not hiring her because of e.g. insufficiently experience with SQL, and it develops that you have previously hired a non-Q developer who didn't do SQL either, you now get to answer a lawsuit alleging discrimination against Q candidates. (We all know people are package deals, but if you put in writing that you hung your hat on a particular detail, then you're going to look like you're lying to cover your antiQist biases.)
ctkrohn 16y ago
Great answer, thanks.