Home » News & Events » Hiring Discrimination Lawsuit Claiming Ageism
by Sheila Callaham for Forbes
A federal court has authorized—and notice is now being distributed to—potential opt-in plaintiffs in a closely watched hiring discrimination lawsuit, one that could become the largest collective action in U.S. history. The ruling stems from the legal proceedings in Mobley v. Workday, Inc., a 2023 federal court case in Northern California alleging that AI-based hiring systems unlawfully screened out qualified applicants. Among the claims are violations of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), which protects workers age 40 and older from employment discrimination.
Founded in 2005, Workday provides enterprise cloud software for finance and human resources and reports serving more than 65% of the Fortune 500, including over 70% of the top 50 companies, with customers operating in 175 countries. That scale is central to the case. Thousands of employers rely on Workday’s AI-enabled hiring tool to screen applications and determine who advances in the hiring process.
Derek Mobley, a Black man over 40, claims he applied to more than 100 jobs with companies that use Workday’s AI-based hiring tools over the course of several years and was rejected every time, according to his February 2023 filing. Workday argued for dismissal on the grounds that only employers make hiring decisions. However, Mobley alleged that Workday’s system, not the prospective employer, made early decisions on his applications, as he received rejection notices within minutes or hours of applying, including overnight, which he cited in his complaint as evidence of automated screening.
Mobley brought claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the ADEA and the Americans with Disabilities Act. In early 2025, he sought court authorization to pursue his age-discrimination claim as a collective action, allowing other applicants age 40 and over to opt in.
Workday argued that identifying potential collective members would be overly burdensome given the volume of applicants. Judge Lin disagreed.
“If the collective is in the ‘hundreds of millions’ of people, as Workday speculates, that is because Workday has been plausibly accused of discriminating against a broad swath of applicants. Allegedly widespread discrimination is not a basis for denying notice,” Judge Lin wrote in her ruling.
Individuals age 40 and over who have received a rejection after applying for a job through the Workday platform, may review the official notice and submit a court-approved consent-to-join form through the case website. The notice, authorized by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, explains eligibility and provides the opt-in form for individuals aged 40 and over who applied for jobs using Workday’s application platform since September 24, 2020.
The court-approved opt-in process applies to age-based claims under the ADEA and does not require individuals to meet additional criteria related to race or disability.
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>>Submit a consent-to-join form
