CPE Legal and Ethical Considerations 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under the Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA), which of the following employer types is EXEMPT from its restrictions?
- Private manufacturing companies
- Federal, state, and local government employers (Correct answer)
- Retail chain stores
- Private healthcare networks
Correct answer: Federal, state, and local government employers
Government employers at the federal, state, and local levels are explicitly exempt from EPPA's restrictions on polygraph use.
Question 2: A polygraph examiner is subpoenaed to testify about a client's examination results. The client has NOT waived privilege. What is the examiner's most appropriate initial action?
- Comply fully with the subpoena immediately
- Notify the client and consult legal counsel before disclosing (Correct answer)
- Refuse all testimony without further explanation
- Provide only the numerical scores, not conclusions
Correct answer: Notify the client and consult legal counsel before disclosing
The examiner should notify the client and seek legal guidance before disclosing privileged information, allowing time to assert applicable privilege.
Question 3: Which APA ethical standard requires examiners to maintain accurate and complete records of all examinations conducted?
- Standard of competence
- Standard of record-keeping (Correct answer)
- Standard of confidentiality
- Standard of informed consent
Correct answer: Standard of record-keeping
The APA's record-keeping standard obligates examiners to maintain thorough, accurate examination documentation.
Question 4: During a pre-test interview, the examinee discloses a plan to harm a specific third party after the exam. The examiner's ethical duty under the 'Tarasoff' principle requires:
- Strict confidentiality — no disclosure permitted
- Warning the potential victim and/or notifying authorities (Correct answer)
- Completing the exam and noting the threat in the report only
- Terminating the exam without any further action
Correct answer: Warning the potential victim and/or notifying authorities
The Tarasoff duty to warn/protect requires examiners to take reasonable steps to protect identifiable potential victims from serious threats.
Question 5: Which federal law most directly governs the use of polygraphs in pre-employment screening by private sector employers?
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
- The Americans with Disabilities Act
- The Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988 (Correct answer)
- The Fair Credit Reporting Act
Correct answer: The Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988
The Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988 is the primary federal law restricting private-sector employers from using polygraphs for pre-employment screening.
Question 6: An examiner discovers that a colleague is fabricating polygraph charts to support predetermined conclusions. The examiner's ethical obligation is to:
- Ignore it as it does not involve their own cases
- Report the misconduct to the appropriate professional ethics board (Correct answer)
- Confront the colleague privately and take no further action
- Warn only future clients of the colleague
Correct answer: Report the misconduct to the appropriate professional ethics board
APA ethical standards require examiners to report known serious misconduct by colleagues to protect the integrity of the profession.
Question 7: Under EPPA, how much advance written notice must an employer provide to an employee before a polygraph examination in an ongoing investigation?
- 12 hours
- 24 hours
- 48 hours (Correct answer)
- 72 hours
Correct answer: 48 hours
EPPA requires at least 48 hours advance written notice to the employee before conducting a polygraph examination under the ongoing-investigation exemption.
CPE Legal and Ethical Considerations 2
Under the Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA), which of the following employer types is EXEMPT from its restrictions?