Case Summary
- Collective Certified: District Judge Rita Lin approved preliminary certification for a nationwide group of applicants aged 40‑plus who say Workday’s résumé‑ranking engine shut them out of jobs.
- Unified Policy in the Crosshairs: The order finds Workday’s Candidate Skills Match and Assessment Connector tools form a single, AI‑driven policy whose disparate impact can be proven with common evidence.
- Ripple Risk for HR Tech: The ruling rejects Workday’s “too big to notify” argument and signals that vendors—not just employers—may face sweeping liability if algorithms skew against protected groups.
By Samuel Lopez – USA Herald
SAN JOSE, CA – When Derek Mobley clicked “submit” on yet another Workday‑powered application, he had no idea he was stepping into an AI minefield. Five years and hundreds of automated rejections later, his lawsuit is poised to redefine the legal landscape for every résumé‑screening algorithm in America.
On May 16, 2025, Judge Rita Lin issued a 33‑page order that grants preliminary collective certification to “[a]ll individuals aged 40 and over who, from September 24, 2020 to the present, applied for jobs using Workday and were denied employment recommendations.” The decision gives Mobley and four co‑plaintiffs the green light to alert potentially millions of similarly situated job‑seekers.
