The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals held in Karracker v. Rent-A-Center, Inc. F3rd (June 2005) that the Minnesota Multi-Phasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was a "medical examination" under the ADA. Its use was, therefore, illegal as a pre-employment test that screened out, or had the effect of screening out, job applicants with disabilities.
Three brothers who worked for Rent-A-Center brought a class action lawsuit alleging violations of the ADA after the three brothers were denied promotions because they failed the APT Management Trainee-Executive Profile. The APT was a series of 9 tests designed to measure such things as math and language skills as well as personal interests and personality traits.
Rent-A-Center argued the MMPI portion of the test measured simply whether someone works well in groups or is comfortable in a fast-paced office. Rent-A-Center argued that the MMPI was a personality test permitted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's enforcement guidance, not a prohibited medical examination.
The Court noted however, that the MMPI measures traits such as depression, hypochondrias, hysteria, paranoia and mania. Elevated scores on portions of the MMPI can also be used to diagnosis psychiatric disorders. They held that Rent-A-Center's use of the MMPI was illegal because it measured traits that are not relevant to promotion. The Court noted that psychological tests designed to identify a medical disorder or impairment qualify as medical examinations, but psychological tests that measure personal traits such as honesty, preferences and habits do not.
This is the first case in which a federal court addressed the permissible uses of MMPI as a pre-employment test.