Polygraphs: Ask Me No Questions . . .

More than a million lie-detector tests were given in the U.S. last year, 90% of them by private employers to their workers. Most polygraphs were for routine screening of job applicants or random testing for deterring theft. Last week the Senate passed a bill limiting the use of polygraphs in job screening for all workers except security guards and those with access to controlled substances. The new law was necessary, said Senator Edward Kennedy, to protect people from “20th century witchcraft . . . inaccurate instruments of intimidation.” An employer could still test a worker reasonably suspected of wrongdoing. But the bill would prohibit firing or disciplining an employee solely on the basis of a polygraph test — or a refusal to take one.