Is Your Employer Using AI to Make Decisions About You? Know Your Rights Under California Law

So, your employer just told you they used a “data-driven process” to deny your promotion, reject your application, or decide on your termination. But what does that actually mean? In many California workplaces today, it means an algorithm or artificial intelligence tool made or heavily influenced a decision about your career, and you may not have even known it was involved.

AI-powered tools are now used across every stage of the employment lifecycle: screening resumes, evaluating interview responses, scoring performance, flagging employees for layoffs, and more. California has responded with some of the strongest protections in the nation. If you are an employee or job applicant in this state, you have significant rights when your employer uses AI to make decisions about your job.

Key Takeaways

• AI discrimination is still discrimination: Under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), employers are liable for discriminatory outcomes produced by automated decision systems, even if a third-party vendor built the tool.
• You have the right to know: California law now requires employers to notify you before and after using AI in significant employment decisions, and in many cases, you can opt out or request human review.
• Act quickly to protect your rights: If you suspect an AI tool contributed to an adverse employment action, document everything and consult an attorney. Strict deadlines apply for filing complaints with agencies like the California Civil Rights Department.

AI Discrimination Is Still Discrimination Under California Law

Under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), it has always been illegal for employers to discriminate based on protected characteristics like race, gender, age, disability, religion, and national origin. What has changed is that California regulators have made clear that this prohibition applies equally when an employer uses an algorithm or automated system to make employment decisions.

In 2025, the California Civil Rights Council approved landmark regulations governing the use of automated decision systems (ADS) in employment. These rules, which took effect on October 1, 2025, establish that employers cannot hide behind a software vendor’s product. If the AI tool your employer uses produces discriminatory outcomes, even unintentionally, your employer can be held liable.

This is a critical point: your employer is responsible for discrimination caused by its AI tools, even if a third-party vendor built and operates the technology.

What Your Employer Must Tell You About AI

California’s regulatory framework now requires meaningful transparency when employers deploy AI in the workplace. Here are the key rights you should know about:

• Pre-use notice: Before your employer uses an automated decision-making tool to evaluate you for hiring, promotion, or other significant employment decisions, they are required to notify you.
• Post-use notice: After an AI-assisted decision is made, you may be entitled to know that the technology played a role in the outcome.
• Opt-out rights: Under certain circumstances, you have the right to opt out of automated decision-making processes, particularly when they involve significant decisions about your employment.
• Right to human review: You may have the right to request that a human being review a decision that was made or influenced by an AI system.

If your employer used an AI tool in a decision that affected your job and never told you about it, that failure to disclose may itself be a violation of your rights.

How AI Discrimination Happens in Practice

AI tools can discriminate in ways that are subtle and difficult to detect without careful scrutiny. Here are some of the most common ways algorithmic bias affects California workers:

Resume Screening Tools

Many employers use AI to automatically filter job applications. These tools learn from historical hiring data, data that often reflects decades of bias. The result is that qualified candidates from underrepresented groups can be systematically screened out before a human ever sees their resume.

Performance Monitoring Software

Automated performance tracking systems can penalize employees who take medical leave, use disability accommodations, or work modified schedules. These tools may effectively punish people for exercising their legal rights, creating a pattern of discrimination that is difficult to detect on an individual level.

Predictive Analytics for Layoffs

Some employers use algorithms to identify employees they predict are likely to leave or underperform. These predictions often rely on factors that correlate with age, gender, or ethnicity, leading to discriminatory layoffs or terminations that appear neutral on the surface.

Video Interview Analysis

AI tools that score candidates on facial expressions, tone of voice, or speech patterns can disadvantage people with disabilities, non-native English speakers, and other protected groups. These tools often lack the kind of rigorous testing needed to ensure they are not producing biased results.

In each of these situations, the employer may claim the decision was “objective” or “data-driven.” But a biased algorithm does not produce objective results, it automates and scales the bias.

What You Can Do If You Suspect AI Discrimination

If you believe your employer used an AI tool that contributed to an adverse employment action, such as not being hired, being passed over for promotion, being disciplined, or being wrongfully terminated, you have several options under California law.

1. Request Information

Ask your employer whether automated decision-making tools were used in the process that affected you. Under California’s new regulations, employers are required to maintain records related to their use of AI systems for at least four years.

2. Document Everything

Keep records of your qualifications, performance evaluations, communications with your employer, and the timeline of events. If you were told the decision was made by “the system” or was “data-driven,” make note of that language, it may be evidence that an AI tool was involved.

3. File a Complaint

You can file a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) if you believe AI-facilitated discrimination has occurred. There are strict deadlines for filing, so it is important to act quickly.

4. Consult an Employment Attorney

AI discrimination cases involve complex intersections of employment law, technology, and data analysis. An experienced California employment lawyer can help you evaluate whether an algorithm may have violated your rights and pursue appropriate legal remedies.

California’s AI Protections Are Getting Stronger

California’s protections for employees are continuing to expand. In early 2026, the state legislature introduced SB 947, the Automated Decision Systems in the Workplace Act, which would impose additional restrictions on how employers can use AI in employment decisions. Meanwhile, the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) has approved regulations requiring businesses to comply with new automated decision-making transparency obligations by January 1, 2027.

The direction is clear: California is building one of the most comprehensive frameworks in the nation to hold employers accountable for how they deploy AI. For employees, this means stronger protections and more legal tools to challenge discriminatory practices, whether those practices come from a human manager or a machine learning model.

You Deserve a Fair Process

Technology should make workplaces more efficient, not more discriminatory. If you suspect that your employer’s use of AI or automated tools has resulted in unfair treatment based on your race, age, gender, disability, or any other protected characteristic, you may have a legal claim.

At Bluestone Law, we represent California employees who have been wrongfully terminated, discriminated against, or denied their workplace rights. If you believe AI played a role in an employment decision that harmed you, contact us for a free consultation. You pay nothing unless we win your case.