After Derek Mobley was rejected from more than one hundred jobs on Workday’s platform, the jobseeker sued the human resources software company, claiming that its algorithms had discriminated against him on the basis of his age.
In response, Workday has argued that it is not liable for decisions that stem from the preferences of companies that use its software.
But a court has ruled that Mobley’s case — which includes others who also believe Workday discriminated against them — can proceed.
Insurers and their legal teams are closely monitoring the lawsuit, which could have consequences far beyond the realm of employment discrimination, as companies hand over a wide range of business tasks to AI agents.
At issue in the Mobley case is whether courts will impute legal responsibility to AI systems for decisions they take on behalf of companies, or whether liability will sit with the companies — leaving them potentially on the hook for lawsuits as damages awarded from class action cases in the US increasingly range into the billions of dollars.
