The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a friend-of-the-court brief in a federal district court case, arguing that a human resources software company can be held directly liable for employment discrimination allegedly caused by its artificial intelligence (AI) tool.
The EEOC’s brief in Mobley v. Workday, Inc., claims that a software vendor that provides online resume-screening services can be liable under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) if an employer’s use of its product discriminates against a protected class. The lawsuit is a proposed class action in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
The suit, filed by a rejected job applicant, asserts that software vendor Workday can be held liable as an employment agency, an indirect employer, or an employer’s agent. Workday seeks dismissal, countering that a software vendor cannot be any of these. The EEOC’s brief, which supports letting the case go forward, signals the commission’s continuing scrutiny of the potential discriminatory impacts of AI in the workplace.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association, can read more here.