Personality Tests in Employment Selection: Use With Caution

[Excerpt] Many employers utilize personality tests in the employment selection process to identify people who have more than just the knowledge and skills necessary to be successful in their jobs.[1] If anecdotes are to be believed—Dilbert must be getting at something or the cartoon strip would not be so popular—the work place is full of people whose personalities are a mismatch for the positions they hold. Psychology has the ability to measure personality and emotional intelligence (“EQ”), which can provide employers with data to use in the selection process. “Personality refers to an individual’s unique constellation of consistent behavioral traits”[2] and “emotional intelligence consists of the ability to perceive and express emotion, assimilate emotion in thought, understand and reason with emotion, and regulate emotion.”[3] By using a scientific approach in hiring, employers can increase their number of successful employees

Tort Law in the United States

Derived from the renowned multi-volume International Encyclopaedia of Laws, this book provides ready access to how the legal dimension of prevention against harm and loss allocation is treated in the United States. This traditional branch of law not only tackles questions which concern every lawyer, whatever his legal expertise, but also concerns each person's most fundamental rights on a worldwide scale. Following a general introduction that probes the distinction between tort and crime and the relationship between tort and contract, the monograph describes how the concepts of fault and unlawfulness, and of duty of care and negligence, are dealt with in both the legislature and the courts. The book then proceeds to cover specific cases of liability, such as professional liability, liability of public bodies, abuse of rights, injury to reputation and privacy, vicarious liability, liability of parents and teachers, liability for handicapped persons, product liability, environmental liability, and liability connected with road and traffic accidents. Principles of causation, grounds of justification, limitations on recovery, assessment of damages and compensation, and the role of private insurance and social security are all closely considered. Its succinct yet scholarly nature, as well as the practical quality of the information it provides, make this book a valuable resource for lawyers in the United States. Academics and researchers will also welcome this very useful guide, and will appreciate its value not only as a contribution to comparative law but also as a stimulus to harmonization of the rules on tort

The Rush to the Goblin Market: The Blurring of \u3cem\u3eQuill\u3c/em\u3e\u27s Two Nexus Tests

Part II of this Article begins with a brief introduction to sales and use taxes in the United States. Although these taxes are complementary in nature, they are treated differently for constitutional purposes. This Part then examines the Due Process Clause and Commerce Clause constraints on state taxation, which are animated by very different concerns. Next, this Part explores footnote eight in Quill to dispel the notion that Quill established a facts-and-circumstances test. The section concludes by discussing the problems lower courts have had in applying the Quill nexus tests. The primary problem encountered by the lower courts, exemplified by four lower court opinions, involves fact patterns near the bright-line that involve some quantum of physical presence but something less than a permanent physical presence in the taxing jurisdiction. Part III will then look at ways of bridging the apparent Quill chasm. First, there is a step back to an earlier era in Due Process Clause jurisprudence with an examination of the physical presence test that existed prior to International Shoe. The idea is to take the lessons from that era (i.e., due process cases decided using a physical presence test) and transfer them into the Commerce Clause context. After all, it seems pointless to relitigate issues that were decided eighty years ago. Once a nexus is established, the next logical question is “When does it end?” The Article spends some time in this Part looking at the various approaches states have taken in answering that question. Part III also proposes a model statute to deal with the perceived unfairness of taxing very small businesses through a minimum filing threshold. With the power to tax comes the responsibility to tax efficiently. Administrative costs are associated with having an out-of-state business comply with a state\u27s regulatory taxing authority, both to the business and to the state. A bright-line physical presence test might require very small businesses--those with $100 of sales tax liability or less a year--to file sales and use tax returns. The states would be better off creating a mechanism to exempt these small businesses because the cost of collecting this revenue might exceed the tax collected. The conclusion of Part III discusses the ethical and professional considerations the tax profession is dealing with not only at the practical level, but more importantly at the philosophical level. At its root, the fundamental problem facing the profession today is the question whether truth is relative or universal. To the extent people reject objectivity, their philosophy will likely be reflected in their court submissions, which may then appear in a court opinion. This Article hopes to make a contribution by helping states strengthen their sales tax base and assisting taxpayers in understanding their legal obligations. Whether state revenues are up or down, it cannot be emphasized enough that “taxes are the life-blood of government, and their prompt and certain availability an imperious need.” A bright-line test, admittedly an artificial construct, has the primary advantage of providing notice to those that cross the line that they must collect the tax. Taxation is not just another area of government regulation: in the words of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., “[t]axes are what we pay for civilized society.