Will AI give you the job? Automated hiring tools spark discrimination and secrecy lawsuits

‘Companies in the US are increasingly turning to AI to make faster and more efficient workplace decisions, often under the guise of objectivity.’ Composite: Alvaro Dominguez/The Guardian

A rise in lawsuits over AI use in employment decisions is raising questions about how companies hire and fire

For the last four years, Erin Kistler has applied for thousands of jobs at companies like Paypal, Microsoft and Netflix, only to find her résumé disappear into a black hole. A product manager with nearly 20 years of experience, Kistler believes she was qualified for every role, yet she never received a single interview.

Now, Kistler is suing Eightfold AI, the Silicon Valley maker of hiring software used by hundreds of companies, including those where she applied, in a class-action lawsuit. The case, filed in January in California court, is one of the first to argue that automated screening functions as an undisclosed consumer report or applicant dossier, ranking job applicants on their likelihood of success without giving them the chance to see or challenge the results, according to Kistler’s legal team.

Read more on the original article : https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/aug/19/ai-hiring-tools-discrimination