LIEB BLOG

Legal Analysts

Showing posts with label disability. Show all posts
Showing posts with label disability. Show all posts

Friday, June 20, 2025

Workday Lawsuit Proves Discrimination Risk: Audit Your AI Now

Well, here it is, a federal judge just let a discrimination lawsuit move forward against Workday, the tech giant behind hiring software used by over 10,000 companies. Who is the plaintiff? A Black man over 40 with anxiety and depression who says he was auto-rejected more than 100 times by companies using Workday's AI.


He alleges the algorithm itself is biased, filtering out applicants based on race, age, and disability. This isn't just speculation, and he argues that it is supported by studies, which have shown AI hiring tools regularly replicate the same discrimination humans are supposed to avoid.


In July 2024, we blogged about New York’s DFS warning insurers, if you’re using AI and third-party tools, you’re responsible for making sure they don’t discriminate. That means audits, transparency, and clear legal accountability, even if the tool wasn’t built in-house.


In the New York Law Journal, we outlined exactly what a proper AI audit looks like, because when the lawsuits come, and they are coming, ignorance isn’t a defense, but a proper audit and intervention are very good defenses.


Workday says it “opposes discrimination.” Great. But denying wrongdoing doesn’t stop a lawsuit from moving forward, or a reputation from unraveling. If you’re using AI in hiring or other decision-making, the Workday case is a giant red flag. Start auditing NOW.


If your software is doing the sorting, you better know how it’s doing it, and who it’s leaving out.


So here’s the question: Have you audited your AI tools yet? 






Thursday, March 23, 2023

EEOC Reports That They Recovered Record High Amount of $513 Million in Compensation for Victims of Discrimination in 2022

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently released its 2022 Annual Performance Report, revealing that it collected a record-breaking $513 million in compensation for victims of discrimination. This amount was collected from 65,000 charges of discrimination, which resulted in 91 lawsuits in federal court. The majority of these charges were based on allegations of sex and retaliation discrimination, followed by disability, race, national origin, age, and religion.


Most importantly, discrimination charges were up almost 20% year-over-year.




Tuesday, January 03, 2023

Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Passed into Law

As part of funding the federal government on December 29, 2022, by way of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, President Biden signed a new employment discrimination law that will be effective on June 27, 2023, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

This new anti-discrimination law requires US employers to provide reasonable accommodations to address their employee's limitations related to "pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions," except if such accommodations would constitute an "undue hardship on the operations of the business" of the employer. 

If employers had any doubt, they should immediately and proactively adjust their policy manuals and spell-out how covered employee(s) can request to engage in the "interactive process" where such employee(s) can help to identity reasonable accommodations that would allow them to otherwise perform their essential functions of their job.

Make no mistake, the new law makes clear that employers cannot require covered employees to take leave, even paid leave, if a reasonable accommodation is otherwise available.

Moving forward, pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions no longer need to constitute a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act for an accommodation to be statutorily required to be made available to employees throughout the United States.


  

 

Thursday, March 17, 2022

Notice of Tenants' Rights to Reasonable Modifications and Accommodations for Persons with Disabilities

On March 16, 2022, the NYS Division of Human Rights published Revised Rule Making, HRT-15-21-00005-RP (proposed 19 NYCRR 466.15), with respect to the notice that tenants must receive, which explains their rights to receive reasonable modifications and accommodations in housing. 


The proposed regulation provides that:

  • Real Estate Brokers are charged with making this disclosure "[u]pon the first substantive contact." 
  • Housing providers are charged with providing this disclosure to current and new tenants. 
  • Housing providers must post the notice on all of their websites.


Here is what the notice should state:

NOTICE DISCLOSING TENANTS’ RIGHTS TO REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES 

Reasonable Accommodations

The New York State Human Rights Law requires housing providers to make reasonable accommodations or modifications to a building or living space to meet the needs of people with disabilities.

For example, if you have a physical, mental, or medical impairment, you can ask your housing provider to make the common areas of your building accessible, or to change certain policies to meet your needs.

To request a reasonable accommodation, you should contact your property manager by calling —or —, or by e-mailing — * . You will need to inform your housing provider that you have a disability or health problem that interferes with your use of housing, and that your request for accommodation may be necessary to provide you equal access and opportunity to use and enjoy your housing or the amenities and services normally offered by your housing provider.

A housing provider may request medical information, when necessary to support that there is a covered disability and that the need for the accommodation is disability related.

If you believe that you have been denied a reasonable accommodation for your disability, or that you were denied housing or retaliated against because you requested a reasonable accommodation, you can file a complaint with the New York State Division of Human Rights as described at the end of this notice. 

Specifically, if you have a physical, mental, or medical impairment, you can request: 

  • Permission to change the interior of your housing unit to make it accessible (however, you are required to pay for these modifications, and in the case of a rental your housing provider may require that you restore the unit to its original condition when you move out); 
  • Changes to your housing provider’s rules, policies, practices, or services;
  • Changes to common areas of the building so you have an equal opportunity to use the building. The New York State Human Rights Law requires housing providers to pay for reasonable modifications to common use areas.

Examples of reasonable modifications and accommodations that may be requested under the New York State Human Rights Law include:

  • If you have a mobility impairment, your housing provider may be required to provide you with a ramp or other reasonable means to permit you to enter and exit the building.
  • If your healthcare provider provides documentation that having an animal will assist with your disability, you should be permitted to have the animal in your home despite a “no pet” rule.
  • If you need grab bars in your bathroom, you can request permission to install them at your own expense.
  • If your housing was built for first occupancy after March 13, 1991 and the walls need to be reinforced for grab bars, your housing provider must pay for that to be done.
  • If you have an impairment that requires a parking space close to your unit, you can request your housing provider to provide you with that parking space, or place you at the top of a waiting list if no adjacent spot is available.
  • If you have a visual impairment and require printed notices in an alternative format such as large print font, or need notices to be made available to you electronically, you can request that accommodation from your landlord.

Required Accessibility Standards All buildings constructed for use after March 13, 1991, are required to meet the following standards:

  • Public and common areas must be readily accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities;
  • All doors must be sufficiently wide to allow passage by persons in wheelchairs; and
  • All multi-family buildings must contain accessible passageways, fixtures, outlets, thermostats, bathrooms, and kitchens.

If you believe that your building does not meet the required accessibility standards, you can file a complaint with the New York State Division of Human Rights.

How to File a Complaint A complaint must be filed with the Division within one year of the alleged discriminatory act. You can find more information on your rights, and on the procedures for filing a complaint, by going to www.dhr.ny.gov, or by calling 1-888-392-3644 with questions about your rights. You can obtain a complaint form on the website, or one can be e-mailed or mailed to you. You can also call or e-mail a Division regional office. The regional offices are listed on the website.


The public can comment on this Revised Rule Making until April 30, 2022 by email to  Caroline.Downey@dhr.ny.gov with subject of I.D. No. HRT-15-21-00005-RP



Of note, this Proposed Rule was already revised based on prior public comment. Based on that prior comments, the Revised Rule now:
  1. Includes a posting requirement;
  2. Language change from "doctor" to "healthcare provider" with respect to proving disabilities;
  3. Language change from "show" a disability to "inform" of a disability;
  4. The regulation also now explains the statute of limitations of 3 years to file a complaint in court;
  5. Adding that the failure of a housing provider to respond to a reasonable accommodation request may also be considered a denial of a reasonable accommodation;
  6. Clarifying when a provider may reasonably request particular documentation about a disability or need for an accommodation; and
  7. That the notice requires owners and landlords, not real estate agents, to provide contact information for property managers in the notice.
The response to those comments also acknowledges that there is no express enforcement mechanism for failure to comply with the notice requirement besides from the fact, that we surmise, it will be relevant in a failure-to-accommodate lawsuit and under license law for licensed professionals. 


Finally, the Division of Human Rights declined to include advice about the availability of attorneys' fees for plaintiffs in discrimination lawsuits in response to comment. We strenuously disagree with this decision because this lack of disclosure will demotivate victims from seeking the professional help that they desperately need and we hope that you, the public, will comment, again, to remind the Division of this important fact.  



Wednesday, February 09, 2022

New York Establishes Office of the Advocate for People with Disabilities

New law establishes Office of the Advocate for People with Disabilities. The Office assures that disabled people are afforded the opportunity to exercise all of the rights and responsibilities accorded to citizens of New York.

Operating under the Department of State, the Office shall advise and assist state agencies in developing policies designed to help meet the needs of the disabled by:

  • Coordinating the implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act;
  • Ensuring that state programs do not discriminate against disabled people; 
  • Ensuring that programs provide appropriate services for disabled individuals; and 
  • Working with state agencies to develop legislation and potential regulatory changes.
The Office will be headed by a Director, appointed by the Governor. 

Landlords should be actively removing barriers to access so that this new Advocate doesn't bring suit against them for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).