Discrimination Lawsuit Over Workday’s AI Hiring Tools Can Proceed as Class Action: 6 Things Employers Should Do After Latest Court Decision
A federal judge just allowed a job applicant’s lawsuit against Workday to move forward as a nationwide class action, ruling that the company’s AI-powered hiring tools may have had a discriminatory impact on applicants over age 40. The May 16 decision is a major development in Mobley v. Workday, one of the country’s most closely watched legal challenges to the use of artificial intelligence in employment decisions. While this age discrimination case is still in its early stages, the ruling serves as a warning to employers and AI vendors alike that they can be held accountable for algorithmic screening tools if they disproportionately harm protected groups – even if the bias wasn’t intentional. What do you need to know about last week’s critical ruling?
The court’s May 16 order granted preliminary certification of a collective action under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), allowing the lead plaintiff to notify other job seekers age 40+ who applied through Workday’s system and were allegedly denied employment “recommendations.” To quickly recap how we got here:
