Employment Testing Case Study
Case Study #2 Bechtel Power Corporation?s Use of Objective Welding Tests
Bechtel Power Corporation requires its welders to meet the standards established by the American Society of Mechanical engineers Codes. There are two categories in which welders must qualify in order to meet the standards as a general welder and to meet the standards of jobs requiring a more skilled welder.
Because Ligons had passed the test placing him into the more qualified category prior to his arrival, Bechtel was within its right to test him, especially after Ligons was seen not performing certain aspects of the job adequately. The company used the concept of test-retest reliability to judge his skills at specific job functions. After failing the test, Ligons was given additional training, and was kept on as an employee. The initial lay off was with 58 other welders, all of them white, except Ligons, showing that there was not any racial discrimination when Ligons was selected as one of the employees to be laid off.
Upon his rehire, Ligons was trained more and tested in order to recertify for the more difficult welding job. He failed the more difficult welding test,
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