Anthony May, partner at Brown, Goldstein & Levy, led a chat session on “Artificial Intelligence and Employment Discrimination Law” at the 39th Annual California State University, Northridge (CSUN) Assistive Technology Conference on March 20. His well-attended presentation was designed for attorneys, activists, community leaders, and all individuals seeking to protect workers’ rights in the face of emerging technology and the increasing use of AI in the workforce.
During his presentation, Anthony examined the implications of AI in employment as it pertains to protected classes – such as disability, race, age, and gender discrimination – in all facets of employment, including in the hiring process, employee evaluations, and promotional decisions. He then discussed guidelines from the Department of Justice and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission designed to prevent AI-based employment discrimination, as well as measures taken to comply with federal anti-discrimination laws.
The presentation took place during the four-day CSUN Conference, sponsored by the CSUN Center on Disabilities in Anaheim, CA. The conference is a popular source for researchers, practitioners, educators, and more to network and share best practices on assistive technology that promotes inclusion and equity for all individuals. The conference agenda was filled to the brim with presentations from leading researchers and practitioners in the inclusive technology space. Other presentations, for example, included discussions on innovations for people who are visually impaired, deaf or hard of hearing; AI accessibility for people with intellectual disabilities; multilingual digital accessibility, and more.
The program also featured a keynote address from Haben Girma, a human rights lawyer advancing disability justice, who was the first Deafblind person to graduate from Harvard Law School. In 2013, Girma was named a White House Champion of Change by President Barack Obama.
While at the conference, Anthony also participated in a fireside chat about “AI & Accessibility: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly,” alongside Mohit Goenka of Yahoo and Hans Hillen of TPGi.
Anthony’s presentation at CSUN is not the first time he has been tapped for his knowledge on the intersections of AI and employment law. He has been featured as an authority by media publications, such as The Daily Record, and has presented at various events, including the 2024 National Federation of the Blind Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium and the 2023 Maryland State Bar Association Legal Summit Annual Conference and Legal Summit. Anthony also spoke on this topic at the Society of Human Resource Management’s (SHRM) Talent Conference & Expo in April 2024, and he is slated to speak at the National Employment Lawyers Association’s annual conference in June 2024.
Anthony has also authored a four-part blog series, Algorithmically Excluded, on the use of AI in employment, the discriminatory impacts of such technology, and the legal rights of employees or prospective employees to be free from such treatment.
At BGL, Anthony has built a practice dedicated to representing clients in a variety of complex litigation matters including assisting employees with disabilities in obtaining accessible technology and accommodations in the workplace, representing individuals who have been wrongfully convicted, representing clients in commercial litigation disputes, and fighting workplace discrimination stemming from employers’ use of artificial intelligence as well as other forms of employment discrimination, such as discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Anthony has earned some of the legal industry’s top accolades. He was selected to Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Civil Rights and Plaintiff Employment Lawyers and Lawdragon’s 500 X – The Next Generation guides for 2023. Anthony was also named a Maryland Rising Star by Super Lawyers and “One to Watch” by Best Layers in America for the sixth and third consecutive year, respectively. He received The Daily Record’s Generation J.D. Award in 2020. In 2019, he was honored as the Young Lawyer of the Year by the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers’ Service (MVLS), where he serves on the Board of Directors and as President of the Community Advocacy Network.
Learn more about Anthony here.
Founded in 1982, Brown, Goldstein & Levy is a law firm based in Baltimore, Maryland, with an office in Washington, DC. The firm is nationally recognized in a wide variety of practice areas, including complex civil and commercial litigation, civil rights, health care, family law, and criminal defense. Above all else, Brown, Goldstein & Levy is a client-centered law firm that brings decades of experience and passionate, effective advocacy to your fight for justice.