Page 17 - February 2016

A call for transparency
The process of selecting and retaining qualified My office filed a class action lawsuit regarding this very issue. It is applicants is a cha llenge for v irtual ly eve ry law curr ently on appe a l in the 7th Circuit C ou rt of Appeals. T he C ity real-

enforcement agency. Alarmingly, a significant number izes that if it is forced to disclose the test results, the process will be

of qualified candidates are rejected while inferior can- shown unfair. Worse, we believe that people were told they “failed”

didates are hired. the psych test when in fact their tests did not raise a single red flag.
The traditional selection process is antiquated
Nonetheless the City disqualified them, trusting that the results

and broken in many departments. Nowhere is
would never be disclosed. This demonstration of treachery is

this more evident than in Chicago. Here,
deplorable, however when highly decorated military

qualitycandidatesareroutinelydisqualifiedfor
veterans, who were found psychologically fit on previous

allegedly“failing”thepsychologicaltest.Thisis
evaluations, are disqualified for allegedly failing the CPD

troubling because it is impossible for someone to fail such a test.
psych test, the situation is that much more alarming.
The most a psychological testing company can do is infer that an
My clients include a large number of honorably discharged vet-
LODGE 7 LEGAL CORNER
DANIEL HERBERT

j

applicant has attributes which may make them unsuitable for
erans of our nation’s armed forces. Their distinguished service to our

hiring. The Chicago Police Department wrongly classifies such
country included a wide range of specialized, highly sensitive and

results as a “failure,” resulting in immediate disqualification without
critical assignments, including guarding the President of the United

the psy chol ogical exam. Th ey a re told the y can’t app eal th e dec ision. The re aso n for this is si mple: t h ^eëy íwÜeÉr åe áliÖkÜeíly ÖdêÉisïq uäçaålifÖieÉdêI iímÜÉp réoäpçeíírÉlyÇ. ê A t r a n s p a r e n t p r o c e s s w o u l d e l i m i n a t e s u c h d i s p a r a t e t r e a t m e n t , y e t

any appeal. Candidates are prevented from verifying the results of
States, multiple combat tours, advanced training and the

chologi cal examina tions to serv e in elite sniper units an d a fo ur-tour

the City wants no part of it. How ironic in light of the Mayor’s recent
proclamations promoting his pledge to transparency.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 18
CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ FEBRUARY 2016 17 1

possession of a broad array of security classifications. Specific exam-

ples of psychologically disqualified veterans included an applicant
whose military background included passing comprehensive psy-