THE USE (AND MISUSE) OF PSYCHOLOGICAL-TESTING IN EMPLOYMENT LITIGATION

The increase in emotional damages claims in employment lawsuits has re sulted in the widespread use of psychological testing by both Plaintif fs and defendants in employment cases. Properly administered and inter preted, some psychological tests can be quite helpful in describing a plaintiffs mental and emotional functioning. Yet, psychological testin g is often misused in employment lawsuits, with the dangerous result t hat the fact finder may be misled by data that carry air aura of scien tific credibility but are in fact scientifically worthless. For exampl e, testing instruments might be employed that have no scientific valid ity, or validated tests may be administered or interpreted improperly. The Supreme Court's Daubert standard, however, provides a means of pr eventing the admission into evidence of faulty test data.