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In May 2022, the EEOC filed an age discrimination lawsuit
against a group of affiliated companies employing English-language
tutors. According to the EEOC, for a brief period in the spring of
2020, those companies programmed application software to
automatically reject female applicants over 55 years old and male
applicants over age 60. The lawsuit alleged this screening process
affected over 200 applicants that were above the programmed age
thresholds. The parties have now reached a settlement.
The settlement itself is expansive. As is typical with many EEOC
settlements, the provisions extend beyond monetary payments. Here,
in a consent decree filed in federal court, the employers agreed to
various non-monetary obligations, including providing notice of the
lawsuit to high-level executives and HR employees, retaining a
third-party group to conduct extensive training on all federal
equal employment opportunity laws, and inviting the rejected
applicants to re-apply (with reporting obligations to the
EEOC).
This lawsuit and the subsequent settlement is likely just the
first of many of its kind, but it highlights the need to proceed
with caution when relying on automated decision-making processes,
as well as AI usage generally. Employers should accordingly
critically assess the use of technology – such as the
application software at issue in the EEOC’s lawsuit – and
ensure that its use complies with applicable employment laws. For
additional guidance regarding the use of AI in the workplace,
contact your Polsinelli attorney.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.
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