Ing on the line started
going _bee-beep-beep_ softly. "Crandall, executive
secretary, I.F.A.W.," the man on the other end of the line identified
himself.
"Is there a recorder going on this line?" "Naturally," Melroy replied.
"I record all business conversations; office routine." "Mr. Melroy, I've
been informed that
you propose forcing our members in your
employ to submit to some kind of a mental test. Is that correct?" "Not
exactly. I'm not able to force anybody to submit to anything against his
will. If anybody objects to taking these tests, he can say so,
and I'll have his time made out and
pay him off." "That's the same thing. A threat of dismissal
is coercion, and if these men want to keep their jobs
they'll have to take this test." "Well, that's stated more or less
correctly," Melroy conceded.
"Let's just put it that taking--and passing--this
test is a condition of employment. My contract with your union
recognizes my right
to establish standards of intelligence; that's implied by my recognized
right
to dismiss any person of 'unsound mind, deficient mentality or emotional
instability.' Psychological testing is the only means of determining
whether or not a person is classifiable in those
terms." "Then, in case the test purports to show that
one of these men is, let's say, mentally deficient, you intend
dismissing him?" "With the customary two weeks'
severance-pay, yes." "Well, if you do dismiss anybody on those grounds,
the union will have to insist on reviewing
the grounds for dismissal." "