Be Careful What You Ask: Rules of the Road For Employers Conducting Job Interviews

In view of the recently well-publicized admission by Miami Dolphins’ General Manager Jeff Ireland that, in a pre-NFL draft interview, he asked Oklahoma State wide receiver Dez Bryant whether Bryant’s mother was a prostitute, employers are welladvised to re-visit the “do’s and don’ts” of employment interview questions.

The following hypothetical case study and analysis illustrates the applicable rules, as well as the potential liability facing an unwitting prospective employer. Hopefully, most employers already knew that it would be unlawful to ask a job applicant the question put to Bryant or, indeed, whether the applicant has a mother at all.