1. What was the legal issue in this case? What did the court decide? This case is based on a sex discrimination claim established by the Equal Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against Dial Corporation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. EEOC represents a group of women who applied for work in Dial Corporation, but they were not hired after the test called Work Tolerance Screen (WTS). The legal issue in this case is based on determining whether Dial Corporation can prove that the use of (WTS) is justified and if they could show a link with their business need, or the content or validity criterion. The court ruled against Dial Corporation, and concluded that the utilization of the Tolerance Work Screen test (as a pre-employment …show more content…
What is the evidence that use of the strength test disadvantaged women? The work consists of sausage packing, where the employee has to carry up to daily 18,000 pounds of sausage and walk up to four miles in the process. This work also requires carry up boxes of 35 pounds at a time and lifts and loads at a height between 30 to 60 inches off the ground. It was established in court that men and women have performed this work equally for years, that women had been no more likely than men to be injured prior to the utilization of the test, the test was more difficult than what the actually work required, and that the overall reduction in injuries was probably related to other security initiatives started in 1996 by Dial Corp. Moreover, the EEOC 's fourth-fifths rule indicates that "if the selection rate, which is the percentage of applicants who pass the test and are hired for one race, sex, or other protected class group is less than 80% of the selection rate for the protected class group that was more successful at passing the test, this is evidence of discrimination effects." (p.184) In this case it was demonstrated that 46% of new hires employees were women three years before the test and subsequently that the WST was introduced the percentage dropped to 15%, and by 2002 the rate continued to drop to 8%. The overall percentage of men who passed the test it was 97%, however the women who passed the test were