Applying the Meiorin Decision requirements to the fitness test for correctional officer applicants; examining adverse impact and accommodation.

The fitness test for correctional officer applicants (FITCO) was constructed a priori to conform to requirements established by the Meiorin Decision of the Supreme Court of Canada. A critical obligation from this decision is to determine whether the FITCO has the potential of adverse impact on any subpopulation of applicants and, if so, whether it is possible to provide accommodation. The FITCO pass rate was 28.6% for 56 women and 72.7% for 22 men, which indicates adverse impact on the female applicants. There was no specific adverse impact on minority applicants. To evaluate training as accommodation for adverse impact, a subgroup of 40 females and 8 males engaged in a 6-week FITCO-specific training program with pre-FITCO and post-FITCO performance evaluations. Over the 6 weeks, the overall FITCO pass rate of the females improved to 82.5%, whereas the pass rate of the males improved to 100%, indicating that the training program removed the adverse impact that the FITCO had on the females. We conclude that although the FITCO is likely to have an adverse impact on female correctional officer applicants, a 6-week FITCO-specific training program can provide the accommodation necessary to overcome the potential adverse impact, and the FITCO meets all the requirements established by the Supreme Court of Canada's Meiorin Decision.