Workday has asked a federal judge to block proposed classes of job applicants who allege the company's screening tools discriminated against them. In two filings dated Nov. 10, the company also asked the judge to end a separate age-discrimination collective that more than 15,000 people have already joined. Both requests are pending in federal court in San Francisco.
The case began in 2023. The applicants allege that Workday's software screened out candidates based on age, race, sex or disability. Workday disputes the allegations. The latest filings concern which claims can proceed together and whose claims can be included. They put the role of the software vendor and the employers using it at the center of that decision.
Why Workday wants separate cases
In its opposition to class certification, Workday says the proposed classes could include millions of people who applied to hundreds of employers. The company argues that customers made their own hiring decisions and used the tools differently. Whether a company delegated any part of screening to Workday, it says, would need to be examined for each employer and job opening. The plaintiffs are seeking class treatment so shared allegations about the screening tools can be heard together.
Reuters reported that the case involves three features, including one that compares résumé skills with a posting and another that helps employers find past applicants for new openings. The dispute is about how those features were used and whether evidence about one employer's use can answer questions about other employers' decisions.
What could change for people who already joined
The judge previously allowed notice to go out to potential members of the age-discrimination collective, so applicants could choose to join. Workday's separate motion asks the court to withdraw that preliminary certification. Workday argues that the people who joined have not shown that they were screened in similar ways. It also disputes whether many of them were evaluated by any of the challenged features.
The age collective and the proposed classes are at different stages. People have already opted into the age case. The applicants seeking class certification still need a ruling on whether their proposed classes can proceed. The filings ask the judge to change those procedural arrangements and leave the merits of the discrimination allegations to be decided separately.
U.S. District Judge Rita F. Lin has scheduled a March 9, 2027 hearing. A discovery order records a Dec. 8 deadline for the plaintiffs' reply on class certification.
