Vince Young & the Legal Treatment of the Wonderlic Test

Last October, Professor Rick Karcher here and Mike here discussed the Wonderlic test as a screening tool for NFL players and its possible racial implications, respectively. I hope they picked their brackets this year with as much foresight: The relevance of these posts to Texas quarterback Vince Young’s draft status following his poor Wonderlic performance is undeniable.

Out of curiosity, I ran a quick database search of the case law to see how courts have treated the Wonderlic test. An interesting case is E.E.O.C. v. Atlas Paper Box Co., 868 F.2d 1487 (6th Cir. 1989), cert denied 493 U.S. 814. In that case, the Sixth Circuit confronted the question of whether the use of the Wonderlic test to screen clerical workers was employment discrimination because of its disparate impact on African-Americans. The court opined, “There is no fixed and firm rule regarding criterion for analyzing studies related to the cognitive ability test relied upon by [defendant employer]. They must generally be evaluated by examination of ‘important elements of work behavior that comprise or are relevant to the job.’” The courting continued, “We make no judgment on this record as to whether, in theory, the proper use of the Wonderlic test may not be demonstrated to be job related in the case of clerical hires. If a defendant uses such a test, it must show that the ‘procedure used measures important skills, abilities, and knowledge that are necessary for the successful performance of the job.’”

Could NFL teams prevail under this standard? Does the Wonderlic test measure “skills, abilities and knowledge” that are “necessary” for “successful performance of the job”? Consider: Joey Harringon (Wonderlic – 32), Donovan McNabb (Wonderlic – 16), Daunte Culpepper (Wonderlic – 15). Which of these three is looking for a job?

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