Interview Questions You Legally Can't Ask
The EEOC treats pre-employment questions about protected traits as evidence of intent to discriminate — here's the line between lawful screening and liability, question by question.
Why questions are evidence, not just etiquette
Few interview questions are per se illegal under federal law — the danger is evidentiary. Per the EEOC, questions about race, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetic information "may be used as evidence of an employer's intent to discriminate" when a candidate from the protected group is turned down. In practice that means every unnecessary question about a protected trait converts an ordinary rejection into a triable claim. The protected classes guide maps the full list; this guide maps the questions.
The question-by-question map
Disability: the special rules
The ADA draws its own bright line: before a conditional offer, no disability-related questions and no medical exams — at all. You may describe the job's essential functions and ask whether the candidate can perform them, with or without reasonable accommodation. After a conditional offer, medical inquiries are allowed only if applied to everyone in the job category. Post-hire, the interactive process guide takes over. The pattern to ban in interviewer training: any question that begins with noticing something about the person rather than something about the job.
State overlays: salary history and beyond
A growing set of states and cities prohibit asking about salary history (the question that perpetuates pay gaps), restrict credit inquiries, and set ban-the-box timing for criminal history. And several states now require pay ranges in postings before the interview ever happens. Train interviewers on one structured question set per role, document the job-related reason for every rejection — the same consistency discipline that runs through the termination guide — and route anything a candidate volunteers about protected traits straight out of the decision notes.