California Judge Allows Discrimination Claims To Proceed In Lawsuit Against Workday’s AI Hiring Tools
A California judge is upholding more recent claims against Workday in its anti-discrimination lawsuit. Judge Rita F. Lin said under California law, the company could face discrimination for an incident that occurred at its state headquarters after Workday, stating that the state’s anti-discrimination laws did not cover its screening of applicants based outside California who were applying for jobs in other states and countries.
This is part of a collective-action lawsuit alleging that its AI-powered hiring tools discriminate against workers age 40 and older. The lawsuit was first filed in February 2023 by Derek Mobley, a Black, disabled man in his 40s, who claims he applied for over 100 jobs without securing a role, according to ITPro.
Judge Lin upholding plaintiffs’ claims
Judge Lin upheld the plaintiffs’ more recent claims and refused Workday’s effort to dismiss them, according to Reuters. This included Hughes’ disability discrimination claim, which alleged it could proceed under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Additionally, Judge Lin did not reject a claim that Workday’s software can filter job applications using “proxy indicators” of disability or illness, as Reuters reported.
Workday allegedly discriminates against older applicants
Judge Lin allowed Mobley’s request for preliminary certification of collective action on the age discrimination claim, stating that applicants “are alike in the central way that matters: they were allegedly required to compete on unequal footing due to Workday’s discriminatory AI recommendations,” according to the order.
“If the collective is in the ‘hundreds of millions’ of people, as Workday speculates, that is because Workday has been plausibly accused of discriminating against a broad swath of applicants. Allegedly widespread discrimination is not a basis for denying notice,” Lin said.
Workday said that this case is without merit. “This is a preliminary, procedural ruling at an early stage of this case that relies on allegations, not evidence,” it said in a statement to The Independent.
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