New England Biz Law Update
A deaf Indigenous woman has filed a discrimination complaint against Intuit and HireVue, alleging she was denied a promotion due to an automated video interview process that failed to accommodate her disability.
The employee, D.K., has worked seasonally for Intuit since 2019. She received positive performance reviews and bonuses throughout her employment and was encouraged by her manager to apply for a seasonal manager position.
According to the complaint, D.K. claims she requested human-generated captioning for the video interview but alleges Intuit denied this accommodation, telling her that HireVue’s software included subtitling capabilities. The complaint alleges that when the employee began the interview no subtitling option was available, forcing her to rely on Google Chrome’s automated captioning, which is sometimes incomplete and inaccurate.
D.K. was subsequently rejected for the promotion. According to the complaint, D.K. received what she believes to be auto-generated feedback after her rejection suggesting she should build her communication skills to “practice active listening” and provide “more concise and direct answers.”
The complaint, filed by the ACLU, alleges violations of the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. It further notes that D.K. had previously informed Intuit’s Accessibility Team about concerns regarding HireVue’s platform and its potential impact on deaf applicants.
The complaint cites research indicating that automated speech recognition (ASR) systems perform “ten times worse” for deaf and hard of hearing individuals, with approximately every other word being transcribed incorrectly. It also references studies showing these systems perform significantly worse for non-white speakers, including Indigenous English speakers, who may use different speech patterns.
HireVue has denied the allegations.
Takeaways for employers
The case highlights compliance considerations for HR departments using AI-powered tools in hiring and promotion decisions. While AI-backed hiring technologies can streamline candidate screening and assessment, they may also create legal liability if they operate in ways that disadvantage protected groups.
As alleged in the Intuit complaint, automated speech recognition systems may fail to accurately assess the speech of deaf or non-white applicants, potentially violating both disability and race discrimination protections.
Under Title VII, employers can face disparate impact claims if AI tools disproportionately exclude protected groups, while the ADA prohibits screening out candidates because of disability-related characteristics.
Employers should also note the growing patchwork of state and local regulations governing AI in employment decisions. Colorado’s anti-discrimination laws — cited in this complaint — along with laws in Illinois and New York City impose various requirements on employers using automated decision systems.
