Court Allows Discrimination Claims Against AI Hiring Tool to Proceed | Mobley v. Workday, Inc.
Summary
Mobley v. Workday, Inc., No. 3:23-cv-00770 (N.D. Cal. 2023):
Plaintiff filed a class action lawsuit alleging that Workday’s AI applicant screening process discriminated on the basis of race, age, and disability in violation of federal and state anti-discrimination laws. The court denied plaintiffs’ argument that Workday was an “employment agency” since there was no support to show they were recruiting candidates. However, the court did accept the argument that Workday can be considered an “agent” because it was plausible that Workday’s customers delegated their traditional functions of rejecting and advancing candidates to Workday. This holding relied much upon the degree of automation and decision-making authority that Workday’s AI had, allowing this “agency” argument to survive the motion to dismiss stage. Currently, the case is in the discovery stage.
