Bauer v. Lynch (4th Cir. Jan. 11, 2016)
Gender-Normed Physical Test Standards
Summary by Chad Smith, student at the Moritz College of Law - The Ohio State University

ISSUE
Is the FBI’s practice of using gender-normed standards for a measure of physical fitness a violation of Title VII? According to the plaintiff in Bauer v. Lynch, it is alleged that the FBI’s practice of having separate push-up requirements for both males and females is a violation of civil rights under Title VII. Bauer v. Lynch, No. 14-2323, (4th Cir. Jan. 11, 2016). 

BRIEF ANSWER
Based on the opinion of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, the practice is a violation. However, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has vacated and remanded the decision for further proceedings. Because of this, at least in the interim, the practice has been upheld. Bauer v. Holder, 25 F. Supp. 3d 842 (E.D. Va. 2014).

RATIONALE
The policy at issue is that as a part of the statistical standardization, the FBI sought to normalize testing standards between men and women in order to account for their innate physiological differences. Bauer v. Lynch, No. 14-2323, (4th Cir. Jan. 11, 2016). The FBI reasoned that, due to such distinctions, equally fit men and women would perform differently in the same events. With that, male recruits at the academy are required to complete more push-ups than female recruits. Bauer v. Lynch, No. 14-2323, (4th Cir. Jan. 11, 2016).

Though the Appeals Court agrees that the standards are facially discriminatory, they found that no prior decision confronting the use of gender-normed physical fitness standards in the Title VII context has deemed such standards to be unlawful. In Powell, the court explained that “Title VII allows employers to make distinctions based on undeniable physical differences between men and women…where no significantly greater burden of compliance is placed on either sex.” Powell v. Reno, No. 96-2743, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24169

RULE
“An employer does not contravene Title VII when it utilizes physical fitness standards that distinguish between the sexes on the basis of their physiological differences but impose an equal burden of compliance on both men and women, requiring the same level of physical fitness in each. Because the FBI purports to assess physical fitness by imposing the same burden on both men and women, this rule applies to Bauer’s Title VII claims.” Bauer v. Lynch, No. 14-2323, (4th Cir. Jan. 11, 2016).

WHAT’S NEXT
The Appeals Court in this case has vacated the District Court’s summary judgment verdict for Bauer. Further, the Appeals Court remands to the District Court on the basis that the District Court reviewed the case and granted summary judgment on an improper legal standard. With that, Bauer’s summary judgment is vacated and the case is remanded for review under the standard set forth by the Appeals Court, and the motion for summary judgment by the United States is to be reconsidered by the District Court.

The January issue of the ACN is now available to members! In this issue:

IPAC 2016 Annual Conference

Gold Rush:  Nuggets of Truth in Assessment

Call for Proposals Deadline Extended!

New Submission Deadline January 15, 2016

Time is running out!

Don’t miss this opportunity to submit a proposal and share your expertise and experience with fellow assessment professionals.  Submitting to the conference is quick and easy and only involves preparing a short narrative summary and abstract.  Please help make the 2016 conference a success and submit a submission to be a presenter at the conference.  The submission deadline has been extended to January 15, 2016.

Anyone, members and non-members, may submit a proposal for consideration.

All topics in the area of personnel assessment, including, but not limited to, selection, legal issues, performance management, training and development, and leadership and succession planning are welcome at the conference. IPAC recognizes the value of assessment across the HR continuum as HR fulfils its role of strategic partner in each organization’s pursuit of its mission, vision, and business goals.

Ready to submit your proposal?

Visit the submission form HERE. Proposals must be submitted using IPAC’s online submission system by 5:00 PM PST on January 15, 2016. If you have any questions about the submission process, please email the Conference Program Committee at ipacconferenceprogram@gmail.com.

Thank you!   We look forward to seeing you in California!

2015 IPAC Conference Planning Committee

Share your Nuggets of Truth in Sacramento

The 2016 IPAC Conference has been unveiled! It will take place from July 31st - August 3rd at the Holiday Inn Sacramento-Capitol Plaza in Sacramento, CA. With the theme being Gold Rush: Nuggets of Truth in Assessment. The Call for Proposals (download) is now available and the submission system is open to deposit your nuggets of truth; feel free to familiarize yourself with the system if you've never submitted before. Conference Dates: July 31-Aug 3, 2016 Conference Location: Holiday Inn Sacramento-Capitol Plaza in Sacramento, CA Proposal Due Date: January 8, 2016 We look forward to all the great submissions!

We are excited to have a hotel and date for the 2016 Conference that we can now announce!

In 2016 we are going to be hosted by the Holiday Inn Sacramento-Capitol Plaza in Sacramento, CA from July 31st through August 3rd, 2016

Of course this means that we are ready to kick off our season of Conference Announcements:

• The Theme - Gold Rush: Nuggets of Truth in Assessment
• Conference Site is live
• Call for Proposals information now available
• Proposals must be submitted by January 8th, 2016

I am excited to continue sharing more information about the 2016 conference as it becomes available.

Andrey Pankov

Conference Chair

The October issue of the ACN is now available to members! In this issue:

• From the President: Liz reviewed the conference, praises the work done by GLEAN, and previews IPACs new marketing strategy.
  
• Legal Watch: Brian and Ryan talk about balancing diversity, close out Abercrombie, and a challenge to affirmative action?
• Matisha Montgomery dissects what went right and why at July's Conference.
• Mengyang Cao talks about Choosing the Correct Item Response Model Alleviates the Faking Problem in Personality Assessment
  
• Plus more....

Weren't able to make it out to Atlanta this year or want to check out presentations you were't able to see? 

Great News! Now all the conference presentations are available online only for IPAC members!

The July ACN is now available. Preview everything the 2015 conference has available. Find it on the Members Only page.

We are pleased to announce that nominations for the 2015 Innovations in Assessment Award will be accepted starting April 13, 2015 through May 15 2015. This award recognizes an individual or a work group for the development of an innovative personnel assessment tool, the use of an existing assessment tool in an innovative manner, or general innovations in assessment policies or procedures which resulted in improved effectiveness, efficiencies, or cost savings. You may nominate yourself or someone in our field who has developed an innovative tool or technique.

The Innovations in Assessment Award will be presented at the upcoming IPAC Conference that will be held July 19-22, 2015 in beautiful Atlanta, Georgia. The winner will receive an engraved plaque to commemorate the accomplishment, the opportunity to present a paper about the innovation at the IPAC conference, and a waiver of the conference registration fee for one person. In addition, award recipient(s) will be invited to share their innovation with the IPAC membership in a future issue of the Assessment Council News publication.

View the nomination form HERE

We've got 7 exciting pre-conference workshops to tide you over until the 2015 IPAC Conference really gets going. This yeah we offer something for everyone, from a Legal Update, to a walkthrough of situational judgement tests (SJTs), and Making Telework "Work".