Job interview questions are an often overlooked area of discrimination law but one that can pack a real punch to the jaws of Massachusetts employers who get careless. Many don’t realize that screening out job candidates via seemingly innocent questions that may touch upon age, gender or religion is just as illegal as firing an employee because he’s handicapped. Both federal and state anti-discrimination agencies have produced detailed descriptions of what a job interviewer can say to a candidate and what he can’t. The wrong question can result in a lawsuit almost as easily as other acts of discrimination can.
In some cases, the damages can be quite high. In one, a car dealer was ordered to pay $100,000 to an applicant after it solicited his age on an application just by asking about his military service. The prospective employee never got an interview but sued because, he said, his 1959 discharge date told the company how old he was. The company had hired younger workers and was not well versed in anti-discrimination laws, facts that did not help it at trial. As in all discrimination cases, the victorious employee also received legal fees and interest on his judgment.
There are a host of questions employers in Massachusetts simply cannot ask during interviews. All companies should be sure their interviewers are well versed in this area of law before they even review resumes that could lead to interviews or job hires. Though this advice stands in any economy, it is particularly important when the job market tightens, since high unemployment rates may coincide with an increase in discrimination claims. Asking about marital status or the age of an applicant’s children is off limits, as are a variety of other questions. For a detailed list of what an employer can and can’t ask during an interview, see the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination’s guide on the subject. It’s posted under the heading “Job Interview Questions: What’s Legal, What’s Not” at my firm’s web page.
Massachusetts employment lawyer, Attorney Jack Merrill provides legal services to employees, employers and businesses throughout the Boston metro west and Worcester County region including Ashland, Dedham, Framingham, Franklin, Hopkinton, Maynard, Marlborough, Milford, Natick, Needham, Newton, Shrewsbury, Sudbury, Waltham, and Worcester, Massachusetts
