Students Testify in Support of Bill Regulating AI Employment Decisions
A group of Yale Law School students from the Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic (WIRAC) gave written and oral testimony before the Connecticut state legislature’s Labor and Public Employees Committee in March.
The students testified on behalf of their client, the Connecticut AFL-CIO, in support of S.B. 435, a bill that would regulate the use of automated employment-related decisions and artificial intelligence technologies, including a prohibition on algorithmic discrimination, by technology deployers and employers in the state.
In their written testimony, Susana Barragán ’28, Diego Flores Romero ’28, Elias Mastakouris ’27, and Karley Nadolski ’28 highlighted the potential risks involved in automated hiring systems, which, if unregulated, may perpetuate discriminatory practices. The testimony also suggested ways to strengthen the bill’s enforcement mechanisms and transparency provisions.
Under the bill, employers would need to disclose their use of automated employment-related decision processes, including any adverse actions taken based on those systems. For employees in the public sector, the bill would prevent state agencies from using AI to “materially affect Connecticut residents’ rights, liberties, and public benefits without legal authorization,” according to the written testimony.
“S.B. 435 offers a chance to change that and take a step towards the economic future that Connecticut needs: a future that is shaped by and for working people,” the students wrote in their testimony.
On March 10, Flores Romero and Nadolski delivered oral testimonies. Flores Romero said that across the country, state legislators have struggled to pass guardrails around the growth of AI, and those guardrails that are in place can be difficult to enforce.
“S.B. 435 would address both of these concerns, granting new protections to workers who may otherwise be surveilled, hired, or fired using AI, and providing the public with critical information necessary to identify potentially harmful AI use,” he said.
Watch the oral testimony (Karley Nadolski at 4:47:00 and Diego Flores Romero at 5:22:00)
Nadolski said that the bill would protect workers: “Tomorrow's economy should be grounded in the dignity of work, and S.B. 435 is an important first step in holding employers accountable when they use AI tools in ways that harm Connecticut workers.”
Students worked under the supervision of Professors Michael Wishnie ’93 and Muneer Ahmad.
The Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic, a part of the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization at Yale School, represents immigrants, low-wage workers, and their organizations in labor, immigration, civil rights, and other matters.
