Is Artificial Intelligence Supercharging Age Discrimination in Hiring?

A major reckoning is taking shape over alleged age discrimination by Workday, Inc., which offers a leading Artificial Intelligence platform to businesses seeking to hire new employees.

Photo by Immo Wegmann on Unsplash

Age discrimination in hiring has surged since the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

This is the implication of a major class action lawsuit proceeding in the U.S. District Court for the Northern California against Workday, Inc., a leading cloud-based software vendor that helps businesses sort, score, rank and screen job applicants.

On its website, Workday states it offers “the world’s most open, intelligent skills foundation embedded with AI to better plan, hire and develop talent.”

The lawsuit was filed by Derek L. Mobley, who has a degree in network systems administration, and four other older workers who claim they applied for hundreds of positions at companies using Workday’s AI platform but receive no job offers.

U.S. District Judge Rita F. Lin in May 2025 granted conditional class certification to the plaintiffs on their claim that Workday violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).

Plaintiffs scored another monumental win last week when Judge Lin ordered Workday to “produce a list of customers” who used the company’s AI features from September 24, 2020, to the present.

She rejected Workday’s attempt to limit the disclosure of its AI clients.

Judge Lin ordered Workday to produce a list of all clients who used the company’s AI features unless the company can show a client “did not receive any scores or rankings, or did not score or screen candidates based on those AI features… Otherwise, they should be included.”

Millions of older workers may be eligible to join the lawsuit and seek damages, making it one of the largest employment discrimination cases in history.

On its website, Workday states that “more than 10,000 organizations, 60% of the Fortune 500, and 70% of the Fortune 50 choose Workday as a partner.”

Workday offers testimonials from companies like Hewlett Packard, Patagonia, AdventHealth, Thomson Reuters, the Bank of Montreal, Keller Williams, Condé Nast, McLaren, and Wellesley, among others.