A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) yesterday called for an independent investigation into the “misuse of polygraph tests” by the Guyana Energy Agency to dismiss employees and noted that polygraphs are unreliable indicators of lying.
“In many countries, polygraph evidence is inadmissible because polygraphs have proven to be unreliable indicators of lying. Therefore this test must not be the only basis for terminating an employee”, the party stated while using a Court of Appeals case in the USA to support its point. It was explained in the release that the courts there had upheld the exclusion of polygraph evidence on the grounds that polygraphs are not “generally accepted” as scientific evidence.
In a press release issued, the party supported the Guyana Public Service Union in expressing disapproval of the way the tests are being used at the GEA.
On Tuesday, six employees were given marching orders while a seventh choose to resign, one day after they were told that they had failed the polygraph tests they had taken in January. Their dismissal follows a series within recent months.
APNU called for an “immediate halt to the practice and for an independent investigation into the causes for dismissal of all the workers who were terminated by GEA”. The release added that the party notes with great concern the fact that many of the employees being terminated had their tests administered more than eight months earlier. “Over 60% of the employees tested failed. This calls into question whether or not the test was properly administered, the training of those administering the test and the calibration of the machines used”, the release said.
The party also expressed concern that “given the allegations being publicly made, the tests have been applied in a selective manner to only certain categories of subordinate employees and not to the executives and those in leadership positions at the Energy Agency”.
APNU called on the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mahender Sharma to immediately cease the practice of terminating workers “based solely on the use of the polygraph and mount a credible independent investigation so that there can be clarity about the work related reasons why workers were terminated”.
GEA’s CEO in an invited comment had told this newspaper that twenty-one of 34 employees who recently took lie detector tests failed them and while some have resigned the contracts of the remainder have been (or are in the process of being) terminated.
The number of persons who failed represented 62%.
One of the employees who were recently dismissed said that while taking the test he was asked nothing related to his work at the Agency. He said that some of the questions were political in nature.
The man noted too that during his four years, at no time was he implicated in bribery or accused of taking money while executing his duties. The man said that he will be taking legal action.
