Selecting employees for hire and promotion is one of the most essential functions of an organization. Many companies that have positions which contain a physical component rely on physical ability testing as part of their selection procedure. The establishment of both the Civil Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) had a profound impact on the manner in which selection testing may legally be conducted (Gutman, Koppes, & Vodanovich, 2011). The current study sought to analyze court cases involving physical ability testing. Results revealed that pure ability tests did not significantly differ from work sample tests with regard to whether court cases found for the plaintiff or defendant. Additionally, rulings did not significantly differ in ruling in favor of the plaintiff or defendant with regard to whether the position in question involved public safety. Finally, the ADA related cases did not significantly differ in their rulings in favor of the plaintiff or defendant after the 2011 modifications to the interpretation of disabled, as compared to before 2011. Future research should focus on the difference between court rulings involving physical ability tests in comparison to other forms of testing such as cognitive tests, and further investigate the role of the ADA in physical ability testing.
","abstract_html":"<p>Selecting employees for hire and promotion is one of the most essential functions of an organization. Many companies that have positions which contain a physical component rely on physical ability testing as part of their selection procedure. The establishment of both the Civil Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) had a profound impact on the manner in which selection testing may legally be conducted (Gutman, Koppes, & Vodanovich, 2011). The current study sought to analyze court cases involving physical ability testing. Results revealed that pure ability tests did not significantly differ from work sample tests with regard to whether court cases found for the plaintiff or defendant. Additionally, rulings did not significantly differ in ruling in favor of the plaintiff or defendant with regard to whether the position in question involved public safety. Finally, the ADA related cases did not significantly differ in their rulings in favor of the plaintiff or defendant after the 2011 modifications to the interpretation of disabled, as compared to before 2011. Future research should focus on the difference between court rulings involving physical ability tests in comparison to other forms of testing such as cognitive tests, and further investigate the role of the ADA in physical ability testing.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Westlin, Joseph"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Department of Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Elizabeth Shoenfelt (Director), Dr. Amber Schroeder, Dr. Reagan Brown"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:08:26Z","subjects":["Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)","physical ability","employment qualifications","legal nature of physical ability testing","Civil Rights and Discrimination","Disability Law","Human Resources Management","Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/1348","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Elizabeth Shoenfelt (Director), Dr. Amber Schroeder, Dr. Reagan Brown"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Westlin, Joseph"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Department of Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)","physical ability","employment qualifications","legal nature of physical ability testing","Civil Rights and Discrimination","Disability Law","Human Resources Management","Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/1348"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Selecting employees for hire and promotion is one of the most essential functions of an organization. Many companies that have positions which contain a physical component rely on physical ability testing as part of their selection procedure. The establishment of both the Civil Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) had a profound impact on the manner in which selection testing may legally be conducted (Gutman, Koppes, & Vodanovich, 2011). The current study sought to analyze court cases involving physical ability testing. Results revealed that pure ability tests did not significantly differ from work sample tests with regard to whether court cases found for the plaintiff or defendant. Additionally, rulings did not significantly differ in ruling in favor of the plaintiff or defendant with regard to whether the position in question involved public safety. Finally, the ADA related cases did not significantly differ in their rulings in favor of the plaintiff or defendant after the 2011 modifications to the interpretation of disabled, as compared to before 2011. Future research should focus on the difference between court rulings involving physical ability tests in comparison to other forms of testing such as cognitive tests, and further investigate the role of the ADA in physical ability testing.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Physical Ability Testing: A Review of Court Cases 1992-2014"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Elizabeth Shoenfelt (Director), Dr. Amber Schroeder, Dr. Reagan Brown"],"dc:creator":["Westlin, Joseph"],"dc:description.abstract":["Selecting employees for hire and promotion is one of the most essential functions of an organization. Many companies that have positions which contain a physical component rely on physical ability testing as part of their selection procedure. The establishment of both the Civil Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) had a profound impact on the manner in which selection testing may legally be conducted (Gutman, Koppes, & Vodanovich, 2011). The current study sought to analyze court cases involving physical ability testing. Results revealed that pure ability tests did not significantly differ from work sample tests with regard to whether court cases found for the plaintiff or defendant. Additionally, rulings did not significantly differ in ruling in favor of the plaintiff or defendant with regard to whether the position in question involved public safety. Finally, the ADA related cases did not significantly differ in their rulings in favor of the plaintiff or defendant after the 2011 modifications to the interpretation of disabled, as compared to before 2011. Future research should focus on the difference between court rulings involving physical ability tests in comparison to other forms of testing such as cognitive tests, and further investigate the role of the ADA in physical ability testing.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/1348"],"dc:subject":["Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)","physical ability","employment qualifications","legal nature of physical ability testing","Civil Rights and Discrimination","Disability Law","Human Resources Management","Psychology"],"dc:title":["Physical Ability Testing: A Review of Court Cases 1992-2014"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Department of Psychology"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:08:26Z"}