Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automated systems can increase efficiency and help reduce human error. However, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the White House, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) are warning companies that uncritical reliance on AI can have legal consequences, including potentially building in bias that can lead to claims of employment discrimination. Employers’ reliance on these technologies to target job advertisements, recruit applicants, train employees, and make or assist in hiring decisions can lead to adverse employment actions. But, NIST explains, “[w]ith proper controls, AI systems can mitigate and manage inequitable outcomes.” The NIST study does not focus on specific legal risks arising from use of this technology, but it is useful for evaluating whether the systems meet accepted scientific standards.

Click here to read the full Update.

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Photo of Chris Wilkinson Chris Wilkinson

Chris Wilkinson maintains a broad litigation and advice practice in labor and employment, wage-and-hour, federal contractor compliance, equal pay, government relations, and administrative law. He represents multinational employers, advising and counseling on the full range of employment and compliance matters arising out of…

Chris Wilkinson maintains a broad litigation and advice practice in labor and employment, wage-and-hour, federal contractor compliance, equal pay, government relations, and administrative law. He represents multinational employers, advising and counseling on the full range of employment and compliance matters arising out of federal and state laws.

Chris’ current practice focuses on counseling employers and litigating pay equity matters arising out of federal and state claims. He helps clients navigate large-scale government investigations and litigation arising out of discrimination, retaliation, whistleblower, and other enforcement matters. He also investigates highly sensitive matters at the executive level, ensures legal compliance in diversity and inclusion efforts, and strategizes regarding labor and employment risks arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Photo of Dorthy Lukens Dorthy Lukens

Dorthy Lukens is a graduate of the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law. Prior to law school, Dorthy led the human resource department for a national healthcare provider. Reporting to the CEO, Dorthy counseled senior leaders on local, state, and federal labor…

Dorthy Lukens is a graduate of the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law. Prior to law school, Dorthy led the human resource department for a national healthcare provider. Reporting to the CEO, Dorthy counseled senior leaders on local, state, and federal labor and employment matters and managed adverse employment action claims.

While in law school, she served as the president of SMU’s Labor & Employment Law Association and worked as a legal research assistant.

Dorthy was a summer associate at Perkins Coie in 2020 and 2021. She also held a legal extern position at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Office of the Solicitor, providing support for ERISA and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) matters. In addition, Dorthy held both a legal extern and contractor position for PepsiCo, where she provided employer defense from discrimination suits and other adverse employment action claims.

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Photo of Linda Walton Linda Walton

Linda D. Walton is a member of the firm’s Labor & Employment Law practice and former chair of the firm’s Strategic Diversity Committee. In her practice, Linda defends both private sector and public sector employers in state and federal employment-related litigation matters. Through…

Linda D. Walton is a member of the firm’s Labor & Employment Law practice and former chair of the firm’s Strategic Diversity Committee. In her practice, Linda defends both private sector and public sector employers in state and federal employment-related litigation matters. Through day-to-day counseling and the design and presentation of preventative law training programs for managers, supervisors, and human resources personnel, Linda also devotes a significant part of her practice to advising employers on how to avoid employment litigation. She advises and trains clients on a wide range of employment law matters, including among others, wage-and-hour law compliance, Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) compliance, Title VII compliance, workplace harassment, and newly emerging employment law issues related to employee and employer use of social media. Linda is also often called upon to conduct sensitive workplace investigations on behalf of both private sector and public sector employers.

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Sumedha Ahuja

Sumedha Ahuja focuses on strategic patent portfolio management and patent prosecution with specific emphasis on computer software, internet, and artificial intelligence/machine learning inventions. She has successfully drafted and prosecuted over 100 patent applications for both large corporations and startups at the U.S. Patent…

Sumedha Ahuja focuses on strategic patent portfolio management and patent prosecution with specific emphasis on computer software, internet, and artificial intelligence/machine learning inventions. She has successfully drafted and prosecuted over 100 patent applications for both large corporations and startups at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and foreign patent offices.

Sumedha’s experience spans a great depth and breadth of technical areas, including telecommunications, business models, mobile applications, advertising and behavioral analysis, search and search result processing, blockchain, IoT, cloud computing, and virtual computing. Her representations frequently involve operating systems and networking, object-oriented programming, natural language processing, and computer vision. In the area of electronic banking and election systems, she assists clients with matters involving encryption and other security measures.

In addition to procuring patents in these fields, Sumedha evaluates third-party patent portfolios, counsels clients on avoiding patent infringement, and mines client patent portfolios to identify assets for licensing, patent infringement counterclaims and divestment. Sumedha has also represented both patent owners and petitioners before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) in more than two dozen post-grant proceedings, including inter partes reviews and covered business method reviews. Her experience includes conducting and defending expert deposition as well as drafting successful petitions, patent owner responses, and expert reports. She has also published a leading handbook on post-grant proceedings.

Prior to practicing law, Sumedha was a software engineer at Sapient Corp., where she designed, developed and deployed software solutions for large enterprise clients. As a graduate student at McGill University, Sumedha was a member of both the Mobile Robotics Lab and the Reasoning and Learning Lab, where she focused her research on developing recommendation systems using various machine learning techniques.

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