US Workers Displaced by AI Have Limited Legal Options to Fight It

As businesses race to implement the most advanced AI tools, a split is emerging over how to tackle one of the most pressing problems: What to do with the workers who are displaced.

Farrell Fritz Labor and Employment partner Domenique Camacho Moran was recently quoted in Bloomberg News discussing the limited legal protections available to U.S. workers displaced by artificial intelligence.

From the article:

“Employers have maximum flexibility to make decisions around when, if, and whether they will continue employment,” said Domenique Camacho Moran, an employment lawyer at Farrell Fritz PC.

Of course, there are laws that place limits on who in the US can be targeted for layoffs. It’s illegal to fire workers over protected activities like whistleblowing and union organizing, and to discriminate based on protected categories such as age, gender or national origin. Anti-discrimination laws are the grounds where employers cutting jobs in the wake of AI are most likely to receive pushback, according to Camacho Moran, especially since it remains to be seen whether AI layoffs will disproportionately affect entry-level workers or older employees.

“Age always gets addressed when you’re talking about job responsibilities,” Camacho Moran said. “I think every individual employee will be looking to say, ‘Is this fair?’”

Read the full article here: US Workers Displaced by AI Have Few Legal Protections – Bloomberg