U.S. EEOC Gives Employers Guidance On How To Lawfully Use AI In Hiring Decisions

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently released a technical assistance document that assesses the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in hiring decisions and that is aimed at preventing discrimination against job seekers and current employees. The EEOC is the primary federal agency responsible for enforcing federal law that prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, or sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity).

As the EEOC noted, employers are increasingly using automated systems, including those with AI, to help with a wide range of employment matters, such as selecting new employees, monitoring performance, and determining pay or promotions. Without proper safeguards, the EEOC said, employers may run the risk of unwittingly violating existing civil rights laws.

According to labor law experts at Kelley Drye, the guidance allows employers to use AI and other algorithmic-based methods to screen applicants or identify problem employees, but the technology does not insulate the employer from discrimination claims. Employers still have an obligation to reasonably understand how this technology works, and to ensure that it is being used in a way that does not disparately impact any protected class without a justifiable basis.

Read Kelley Drye’s full analysis here.