Think an AI Screened You Out of a Job? What a Court Asked For

On September 30, 2026, a federal judge in Michigan dismissed a job applicant's class action against Sirius XM. The applicant said the company's AI screening tools rejected him because he is Black. The judge didn't decide whether that was true. He ruled that the complaint never laid out facts that made it plausible, and his reasons show fairly exactly what an applicant would need to bring.

Here is what the order said was missing, set against what an applicant can actually collect.

One applicant rarely has comparison data or statistics, and the ruling doesn't pretend otherwise. The last column is the part you control.

The EEOC says: "In general, you need to file a charge within 180 calendar days from the day the discrimination took place." It adds: "The 180 calendar day filing deadline is extended to 300 calendar days if a state or local agency enforces a law that prohibits employment discrimination on the same basis."

The charge usually comes first. Per the EEOC, "The laws enforced by EEOC, except for the Equal Pay Act, require you to file a charge before you can file a lawsuit for unlawful discrimination." You start through the EEOC Public Portal or by calling 1-800-669-4000. Federal job applicants have a separate process and generally must contact an agency EEO counselor within 45 days.

The deadline usually applies to each decision separately, so a rejection from last spring may already be out of time while last month's is not.

A few do, and where they apply, they give you something concrete to check.

• New York City: Local Law 144 "prohibits employers and employment agencies from using an automated employment decision tool unless the tool has been subject to a bias audit within one year of the use of the tool, information about the bias audit is publicly available, and certain notices have been provided to employees or job candidates." The city's consumer and worker protection agency (DCWP) says the notice must come 10 business days before the tool is used, and you can file a complaint with it without making an account.
• Illinois: since January 1, 2026, the Illinois Human Rights Act makes it a civil rights violation for an employer to use AI in hiring that has the effect of discriminating, or "to use zip codes as a proxy for protected classes under this Article." It also requires employers to give notice when they use AI this way. Zip codes are one of the proxies the Harper complaint named.

Outside places like these, there is often no rule that forces an employer to say whether software sorted your application.

1. Write down the facts while they're fresh: date applied, job ID, link, the site, the email address you used, when the rejection came.
2. Save what you sent. A screenshot or copy of the submitted form beats your memory a year later.
3. Apply under one identity. In Harper, the extra email addresses were noticed and proved nothing.
4. Look for the employer's notice or audit. In New York City, the bias audit summary has to be public.
5. Watch the 180 or 300 day clock. If you think you have a claim, contact the EEOC or your state agency early.
6. Talk to an employment lawyer before you file anything yourself.

For more on the other big AI hiring case, Mobley v. Workday, see Is It Safe to Use AI to Apply for Jobs in 2026?.

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