In the US, an English tutoring company catering to Chinese students, iTutor Group Inc., has reached a settlement of $356,000 following an age discrimination dispute with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
The case accused the company of employing application software that automatically discriminated against older job applicants based on their age.
Age discrimination AI settlement
iTutor Group Inc., a New York-based establishment, alongside the EEOC, is presently seeking court approval for the settlement. Filed as Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. iTutorGroup, Inc; Tutor Group Ltd; and Shanghai Ping’An Intelligent Education Technology Co. Ltd, the lawsuit was initiated in the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn.
All entities involved have connections to Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China Ltd., a fact documented in court records.
Allegations of age discrimination
Although the defendants have staunchly denied the allegations of discrimination, the lawsuit maintained that they violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 as well as the Fair Labor Standards Act. It contended that these companies programmed their applicant software to automatically reject female applicants aged over 55 and male applicants over 60.
The case also highlighted the claim that more than 200 qualified applicants were wrongfully denied employment opportunities.
A rejected applicant's experience
One individual who was denied a position and subsequently reported the issue to the EEOC shared her personal encounter with the discriminatory system. In 2020, she submitted an application using her actual birth date, indicating an age above 55, which resulted in a swift rejection. Remarkably, she reapplied the very next day, altering her birth date to appear younger, and immediately secured an interview offer.
EEOC guidance
In May, the EEOC unveiled guidance addressing the use of algorithmic decision-making tools in the context of employment decisions.