A bipolar disorder sufferer was rejected for low-skilled jobs at multiple companies due to an algorithmic online personality test system, leading to his suicide.

Bipolar disorder sufferer and Vanderbilt University student Kyle Behm was rejected for low-skilled jobs at multiple companies by an algorithmic online personality test system devised and developed by workforce management company Kronos (now UKG) that concluded that he was likely to ignore customers if they were upset or making him upset. 

After taking some time off university for medical leave, Behm discovered through a friend that he had been 'red-lighted' by a personality test system supplied by workforce management company Kronos when he had applied for jobs at several companies, including supermarket chain Kroger, Home Depot, Walgreens.

The nature of the rejections persuaded Kyle's father Roland Behm, an attorney, to file a lawsuit against Kroger and five other companies for allegedly illegally screening for mental illness. 

Kyle Behm ended his life before the case went to court. 

The incident resulted in a heated debate about the fairness of workplace personality tests.

Timeline ⏰

• 2012. Kyle Behm applies for an hourly job at Kroger and discovers that the application process uses an algorithmic personality test that filters him out.

• September 2014. Roland Behm files discrimination charges with the EEOC against Kroger, PetSmart, and other companies on the grounds of mental disability discrimination.

• 2014–2019. Public awareness grows regarding the use of these algorithms, leading to changes in testing by several major corporations.

• 2019. Kyle Behm passes away by suicide (which was later highlighted in the 2021 HBO documentary Persona: The Dark Truth Behind Personality Tests).

• March 2021. Persona is released on HBO Max, featuring Kyle Behm's story and focusing on the harms of algorithmic and clinical pre-employment testing.

Legal, regulatory 👩🏼‍⚖️

• US Department of Labor. Americans with Disabilities Act

• US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (2007). Employment Tests and Selection Procedures

• US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (2003). Worker with Bipolar Disorder to Receive $91,000 in Disability Discrimination Case Settled by EEOC

Research, advocacy 🧮

• Cahill Timmons K. (2021). Pre-Employment Personality Tests, Algorithmic Bias, and the Americans with Disabilities Act

• Yang J.R. (2020). ENSURING A FUTURE THAT ADVANCES EQUITY IN ALGORITHMIC EMPLOYMENT DECISIONS

• Ajunwa I. (2020). The Paradox of Automation as Anti-Bias Inter omation as Anti-Bias Intervention

• Hawkins T. T. (2019). Persona: The Dark Truth Behind Personality Tests

• Martin D. (2019). Search Ranking to Neural Networking and the Challenges of Account Giving (pdf)

• Bal K. (2014). Screens under Scrutiny

News, commentary, analysis 🗞️

• https://www.wsj.com/articles/are-workplace-personality-tests-fair-1412044257

• https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-01-18/personality-tests-are-failing-american-workers

• https://www.enotes.com/topics/weapons-math-destruction/characters

• https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/sep/01/how-algorithms-rule-our-working-lives

• https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkekvb/cost-cutting-algorithms-are-making-your-job-search-a-living-hell

• https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio-web/it-s-unfair-that-by-answering-honestly-i-was-excluded-from-work-this-can-t-be-legal-1.4504180

• https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-artificial-intelligence-hiring-20180719-story.html