AI applications such as ChatGPT have, over the last 12 months or so, become an important tool in improving business efficiency. However, a recent tribunal judgment indicates that it is not just employers who are taking advantage of AI. It was recently credited with encouraging a serial litigant to lodge a disability discrimination claim against a prospective employer.
Mallon v West Midlands Growth Company
In Mallon v West Midlands Growth Company, a business failed in its attempt to get a job applicant’s disability discrimination case struck-out on the basis that he was a serial litigant. According to the employer, the applicant was “unrealistic…applying for roles for which he [had] no relevant experience”. Since 2019, he had applied for roughly 4,600 jobs and initiated over 60 legal claims.
The serial job applicant admitted he used an AI tool to analyse his email trails with prospective employers. He uploaded his correspondence to the technology, which, in the case against West Midlands Growth Company, allegedly revealed the company’s poor communication history and suggested that failure to accommodate his requests could amount to an Equality Act 2010 breach.
Hopefully, this is an exceptional case. However, as AI technology continues to develop and becomes more accessible, more people will use AI tools to analyse the behaviour of their employers or prospective employers.
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