EEOC publishes draft strategic enforcement plan

The EEOC released for public comment, and published in the Federal Register on January 10, a draft of its Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP) for fiscal years (FY) 2023-2027. Comments must be filed on or before February 9, 2023.
Once finalized, the SEP will establish the EEOC’s upcoming enforcement priorities in its work to advance equal employment opportunity and prevent and remedy discrimination in the workplace.

EEOC to hold hearing on AI
The EEOC is holding a hearing entitled “Navigating Employment Discrimination in AI and Automated Systems: A New Civil Rights Frontier” on January 31, 2023, to examine the use of automated systems, including artificial intelligence (AI), in employment decisions. In its release on the hearing the EEOC stated that, “increasingly, automated systems, like AI, are being used to make employment decisions including recruiting, hiring, and firing workers. These technologies, some as simple as automated resume scanners, can encode harmful biases and result in unlawful discrimination.”

According to the EEOC, during the hearing, panelists will discuss the civil rights implications of AI and other automated systems on America’s workers and job seekers. The hearing will also explore ways in which these technologies might support diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) efforts.