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Can a Local government job like a city worker be forced to take a polygraph or can they refuse ?
It really depends on the city where one works. Unfortunately, the federal Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988 includes a blanket exemption for federal, state, and local governments. However, some states have their own laws restricting the use of polygraphs by state and local agencies.
For an authoritative opinion, it would be best to consult with a local attorney with experience in labor law.
Posted by: Hard Worker Posted on: Apr 22nd, 2012 at 7:41pm
Your experience with this municipal agency is not that all uncommon in Texas. I know, I am also a resident of Tx. and have already gone thru your experience. It is a shame that agencies have applicants sign these waivers of non-disclosure why they are not hired, but have no problem sharing this information with other agencies. You really need to do two things. First, consult with an attorney. Failing this polygraph will haunt you for a long time. Second, file an Open Records request with the city whose polygraph you failed to inspect your application, BI notes, and examiners report. Remember, polygraph examiners are paid to get confessions and will stretch the truth themselves to get a departments business.
I am very interested to find out what department failed you on the polygraph. Certain, departments in the state are very well known for having very high failure rates on polygraphs. The department in my situation is in SE Texas.
Posted by: Bundy Posted on: Feb 7th, 2001 at 11:33pm
As we know most local police agencies use polygraph testing to weed out applicants. Some people are not even told that the reason they were rejected was because of the polygraph. Allow me a couple of minutes to tell my story. I applied with a police department in Texas and as far as I knew I was hihgly qualified for the position. I got the second highest score in the civil service test, so I was immidiately called back to take the polygraph and oral interview board. I had never taken a poly and it was by all means the worst thing I have been through in my life. I told that person everything about me, stuff that I have never even said out loud to anyone. When it was all over i was accused of lying and of hiding a felony. I was confused, angry, and did not know why this person whom has more goods on me than God himself, would accuse me of lying after I had spilled my guts out to him. The lying interrogator assured me everything I said would remain between me and him. The next day I showed up for the interview board, and was asked specific questions about the things I had said during the polygraph. Luckily I have learned from the mistake I may have made, and I explained all circumstaces involved in those mistakes. I got a pretty high score with the board and was told by a Sgt. that a background investigator would be calling me. Two weeks went by and no one called. So I called to ask what the status of my application was.I was told that I would be contacted when they got to me in the list. The next day I received a letter that stated that I had been discontinued from the application process. I called to ask why my application had been rejected. I was concerned that maybe there might be some erroneuos info. in background. But I was told that I signed a paper that said they didn't have to tell me why I was rejected. A few months went by till I finally got over that expperince and went to apply for another dept. One of the officers there made the mistake of handing me my personal folder so I could file some more paperwork. I noticed that on it there was all the questions i was asked by the previos dept. and all the things I admited to during my first poly. Also at the very bottom it read "Polygraph reject". Had I known that I was rejected due to my poplygraph I would have wrote a letter demanding a retest. But I guess that's how they get most of us, they don't give any explanations. I am currently in the process with the new dept. and since I already confessed all my sins to the first examiner I don't intend to try to hide anything. besides I've never done anything that would disqualify me. I do however plan to use countermeasures to ensure that this pseudo machine doesn't screw me again. I also made an observation while going through the first process. While talking to the secretary in the personnel dept. she told me that the vast MAJORITY of applicants are rejected because they lied (could't pass the poly). If those figures proposed in this site and stoppolygraph.com are correct, they contradict what I discovered. either there is a much higher percent of people being accused of lying when they are telling the truth, or this particular examiner just calls everyone a liar. Thanks for taking the time to read about my experience. I will post the results of my next polygraph.