There is no other source of federal law that forbids discrimination against highly intelligent people in hiring
The standard is higher (and called intermediate scrutiny) for gender-based discrimination.
Yes, I know...but the absurdity of discrimination that's
de facto sanctioned drives me bananas --- especially because this country works so hard to ensure that the less intelligent do get "equal opportunities" (e.g. think of schools).
The court case here is not all that atypical as far as an employer declining to hire someone because they are overqualified. What it interesting about it is that the hiring policy is based on a score that is meant to represent cognitive ability (not achievement), and that the policy includes a ceiling as well as a floor.
But IQ doesn't make you overqualified by itself. I have a high IQ but that doesn't mean I'm overqualified for driving a train (in fact, I'm underqualified).
It's amazing that our society appears to be content to say that 10,000 hours of practice are more important than ability/talent or that all children are gifted on the one hand --- yet that high IQ can preclude you from certain jobs. Which one is it? Obviously, it isn't both, so what's happening is that people want things a certain way, and reason and logic play no role in their decisions in this area.
