EXPLAINING US COURTS OF APPEALS DECISIONS INVOLVING PERFORMANCE-APPRAISAL - ACCURACY, FAIRNESS, AND VALIDATION

Accuracy and due process perspectives were used to extend policy-captu ring research concerning employment discrimination case law. Two-hundr ed ninety-five usable U.S. Circuit Court decisions concerning performa nce appraisal were located from 1980-1995. In both chi-square and mult ivariate LOGIT analyses, decisions were explained by: use of job analy sis, provision of written instructions, employee review of results, an d agreement among raters. Contrary to hypotheses, appraisal frequency and type (traits vs. behaviors or results) were unrelated to judicial decision. Rater training approached significance in chi-square analysi s. Of other variables checked (e.g., type of discrimination claim, sta tutory basis, class action status, year of decision, circuit court, ty pe of organization, purpose of appraisal, evaluator race and sex), onl y circuit court approached significance. We conclude that issues relev ant to fairness and due process were most salient to judicial decision s; issues pertaining to accuracy were important, yet validation was vi rtually ignored in this sample of cases.