https://san.com/cc/workday-hires-for-millions-a-lawsuit-seeking-plaintiffs-says-its-ai-shut-out-applicants-over-40/ Straight Arrow News Unbiased. Straight Facts. Watch and Listen * News + U.S. + Politics + Tech + Lifestyle + Health + Sports + Military + International + Business + Energy + U.S. Elections * Media Miss * Unbiased Updates Watch and Listen [ ] Watch and Listen * News + U.S. + Politics + Tech + Lifestyle + Health + Sports + Military + International + Business + Energy + U.S. Elections * Media Miss * Unbiased Updates U.S. Workday hires for millions. A lawsuit seeking plaintiffs says its AI shut out applicants over 40 Jan 09, 2026 at 02:43 PM CST Cole Lauterbach * Copy URL * Email * Facebook * Twitter / X * Reddit --------------------------------------------------------------------- An artificial intelligence program used by one of the largest HR services companies in the U.S. allegedly put resumes of applicants who were Black, disabled, female or over 40 behind other job candidates. Image credit: Getty Images * Summary * Full story * Why this story matters * Get the big picture * Media landscape * Timeline * Sources * Related stories Summary AI hiring bias A collective-action lawsuit alleges that Workday's artificial intelligence program used in hiring processes disadvantaged certain applicants, including those who are Black, disabled, female or over the age of 40. Legal proceedings The suit, first filed in 2023, alleges violations of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Four individuals have joined the suit seeking damages and changes to how Workday uses AI in hiring. Workday's response Workday denies all allegations in the lawsuit, saying the company's products are built to help our customers manage an ever-increasing volume of applicants and that its AI is not trained to use protected characteristics including race, age or disability. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Read full story Full story An artificial intelligence program used by one of the largest HR services companies in the U.S. allegedly put resumes of applicants who were Black, disabled, female or over 40 behind other job candidates. Workday's hiring recommendation practices are the subject of a collective-action lawsuit that is seeking additional plaintiffs. The lawsuit, initially filed in 2023, alleges Workday's technology "disadvantaged" Derek Mobley -- a Black, disabled IT professional over the age of 40 -- in application pools due to his age. Mobley said he had applied for more than 100 jobs over several years only to be rejected, sometimes quickly. Mobley also says Workday's technology discerned his race through his attendance at Morehouse College, a historically Black school, and rooted out his anxiety and depression via assessments and personality tests. QR code for SAN app download Download the SAN app today to stay up-to-date with Unbiased. Straight Facts(tm). Point phone camera here In some cases, Mobley said, his application to a job that matched his experience was rejected in under an hour. His lawsuit alleges Workday's actions violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). Four others later joined Mobley's suit. Mobley is seeking back pay, front pay, and other damages on behalf of the potentially millions who would qualify. The suit also asks for a ruling stating that Workday discriminated against the applicants and an order stopping Workday from using AI in the manner it is accused of. Collective-action lawsuits are similar to class actions but concern employee-employer disputes via the Fair Labor Standards Act. Members of a collective-action suit must opt-in before they're involved, where a class-action suit is the opposite. The plaintiffs are now seeking people to join the suit, but only those who were rejected because of their age. The window to join at this stage of the case closes March 7. Workday's response Workday denies the allegations. Although the case was filed in 2023, a judge has yet to rule on whether the HR company has any liability, only saying in 2025 that the case can proceed. "The claims in the suit are false," Connor Spielmaker, Workday's corporate communications principal, told Straight Arrow News. "Our products, both AI-enabled and not, are built to help our customers manage an ever-increasing volume of applicants with a focus on human decision-making." He added that Workday's AI recruiting tools are not trained to use or identify protected characteristics like race, age or disability. B2B analytics firm 6Sense lists Workday with 25% of the total market share of HR firms of its kind. The expansive nature of the company's footprint means that a collective-action suit could see millions of qualified people, according to court filings. Motion to dismiss A judge initially dismissed Mobley's case but allowed his attorneys to refile. Workday filed to toss the suit in 2024, claiming that the software vendor didn't have liability for hiring decisions made by its customer companies, but U.S. District Judge Rita F. Lin in the Northern District of California didn't buy that argument. While she did rule that Workday's programs weren't intentionally discriminatory, the judge allowed Mobley's team to make its case that the programs enabled the discrimination. Start your day with fact-based news. Learn more about our emails. Unsubscribe Anytime. Daily Newsletter Email* Enter your email for newsletter updates [ ] Sign me up By entering your email, you agree to the Terms & Conditions and acknowledge the Privacy Policy. Always free. Unsubscribe anytime. [*] AI in hiring The use of artificial intelligence in hiring practices isn't limited to HR departments. SAN reported in May 2025 that services had emerged allowing job-seekers to use AI to apply for potentially hundreds of jobs in a short period of time. Companies like Wobo.ai and others, for a fee, are able to take a job hunter's data, preferred positions and other information, scan for applicable openings and apply without the user's input. The practice has turned screening candidates into a large-scale data project. A Workday Recruiting study said job applications were 31% higher in the first half of 2024 than in the comparable period of 2023. Meanwhile, job openings increased only 7%. Cole Lauterbach Cole Lauterbach A graduate of Columbia College Chicago and Illinois native, Cole spent several years managing and producing news/talk radio stations before moving to Chicagoland to produce award-winning programs for Comcast SportsNet Chicago. After a decade of stewarding The Center Square to a nationwide newswire service, Cole joined the Straight Arrow News team Tags: Discrimination, Employment, Lawsuit SAN provides Unbiased. Straight Facts.(tm) Don't just take our word for it. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Certified balanced reporting According to media bias experts at AllSides AllSides Certified Balanced May 2025 Transparent and credible Awarded a perfect reliability rating from NewsGuard 100/100 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome back to trustworthy journalism. Find out more Why this story matters Allegations that Workday's AI hiring software discriminated against applicants based on age, race, disability or gender raise questions about algorithmic bias and accountability in employment practices, potentially affecting millions of job seekers and HR processes nationwide. AI bias in hiring Concerns about artificial intelligence systems reflecting or amplifying discriminatory practices in hiring highlight ongoing challenges with fairness, transparency and equal opportunity in automated recruitment tools. Legal accountability The collective-action lawsuit against Workday, and the court's decision allowing it to proceed, sets a precedent for how technology vendors may be held responsible for potential discrimination resulting from their products. Impact on job market With AI-driven applications on the rise and HR platforms handling larger applicant pools, the outcome could influence how millions experience hiring processes and shape future employment regulations. SAN provides Unbiased. Straight Facts.(tm) Don't just take our word for it. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Certified balanced reporting According to media bias experts at AllSides AllSides Certified Balanced May 2025 Transparent and credible Awarded a perfect reliability rating from NewsGuard 100/100 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome back to trustworthy journalism. 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Jason Davis/Getty Images for DailyWire+ U.S. Oct 30, 2025 6 min read Lawsuits try to hold AI companies accountable for defamatory content * A U.S. citizen detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement has filed a class action suit against the Trump administration Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images U.S. Oct 1, 2025 4 min read US citizen files class action lawsuit after being detained by ICE * After AI company Anthropic agreed to a $1.5 billion settlement with authors, a federal judge questioned the historically large deal. Cheng Xin/Getty Images Tech Sep 16, 2025 6 min read An AI bot used their words. Now, authors are demanding compensation * [CLEAN-ICE_Custom_featuredImage_Wed-Aug-13-2025] Politics Aug 13, 2025 3 min read DHS sees surge in ICE applications amid hiring push * Disney & Universal file lawsuit against AI firm over copyrights U.S. Jun 12, 2025 2 min read Disney, Universal seek $150K per image in new AI lawsuit * President Donald Trump rounds out his trip to the Middle East, addressing whether he will accept the jet from Qatar as the new Air Force One. Win McNamee/Getty Images U.S. May 16, 2025 7 min read Trump closes out Middle East tour in Abu Dhabi Welcome back to trustworthy journalism. Certified unbiased reporting According to media bias experts at AllSides. [BalanceCertifiedBadgeSAN-May2025] Transparent and credible Perfect reliability rating, according to experts at NewsGuard [newsguard] What people are saying Finally, unbiased news that lets you see both sides. It's refreshing to have facts without the spin." 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