Workday, whose software uses artificial intelligence to sort job applications for employers, asked a federal judge in San Francisco on Tuesday, November 10, to break up a group of more than 15,000 job seekers who say its tools rejected them because of their age. The case was brought in 2023 by Derek Mobley, a Black man over 40 who says he was turned down for more than 100 jobs at companies that used Workday to screen applicants. In May 2025, U.S. District Judge Rita Lin allowed applicants aged 40 and older to pursue the age claim together, and by October more than 15,000 had joined. Workday denies that its technology discriminates.

The company’s main argument is that it does not hire anyone. In its filings, Workday says its customers set their own requirements, use its software in different ways and make their own decisions, so the applicants cannot show that its tools treated them all alike. If the judge agrees, each person would have to sue separately, a far harder and costlier path for someone who never learned why software passed them over. Workday also opposes a request to certify wider groups covering race, sex, age and disability, which Judge Lin is scheduled to hear in March. For people sending out applications, the ruling will help decide whether the maker of a screening tool can answer for its results, or only the employer that used it.