Labor Day 2026 comes amid rapid adoption of AI systems in American workplaces, with many workers now applying for jobs through AI screeners or finding their performance managed and judged by bossware. At the same time, the Trump administration is attacking a foundational civil rights protection that helps ensure employment screens actually reflect what the job requires. While AI technologies undoubtedly offer benefits, without guardrails, these systems can reject qualified people for reasons no one—including the employer—can adequately explain. And because these automated tools are designed using data that does not sufficiently reflect all workers, they can foreclose opportunities for qualified workers based on factors like race, sex, ethnicity, or disability.
We can’t let technological progress turn back the clock on civil rights. To give workers a fair shot in an AI-driven economy, the use of AI must reflect a national commitment to workplace equality. When I served as Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency had begun applying existing law to help ensure accountability when the use of technology violated workers’ civil rights. While the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act was written before anyone imagined a résumé being scored by a machine, the question it asks of any screening device is evergreen: does it actually measure what the job requires? Until Congress enacts new laws to fully address all AI-related risks, traditional civil rights law...
The Singapore Embassy in Jakarta denied unfounded social media claims that two Indonesian public figures visited the Singapore ambassador's residence on oct. 18. According to The Straits Times, th...