Deepfakes and Other AI-Driven Harassment in the Workplace: Evolving Legislative Landscape, Mitigating Employer Risk

This CLE webinar will examine AI-driven harassment in the workplace, including deepfakes, and the potential risk of discrimination and harassment claims for employers. The panel will provide an update on key federal and state legislation, regulatory issues, and litigation on AI misuse, discuss lessons to be learned from notable cases, and provide best practices for mitigating the risk of claims caused by AI-driven harassment or discrimination in the workplace. 

The misuse of AI to generate fake, sexually explicit, humiliating, or harassing content is increasingly impacting the workplace and creating potentially significant liability for employers. Doctored images, audio, and/ or videos are showing up in workplace chats, email, and social media, leading to harassment claims. Content targeting an employee based on a protected characteristic can result in discrimination claims. 

In Carranza v. City of Los Angeles, a sexually explicit photo that resembled the plaintiff and was said to be of her was circulated among LAPD personnel, and the department failed to take corrective action. The jury awarded the plaintiff $4 million in noneconomic damages and concluded the harassment was severe or pervasive enough to alter her work environment. The appellate court recently affirmed the judgment.

Two other notable lawsuits recently filed include those brought by a Washington State Patrol trooper (Pearson v. State of Washington) and a Nashville television meteorologist (Friedrichs v. Scripps Media) who both alleged they were targeted in sexualized AI-generated images that their employers did not adequately address. 

On the other hand, the EEOC Commission recently voted to rescind its 2024 Harassment Guidance which, in part, addressed AI deepfakes.

AI-driven harassment goes beyond generating deepfake pornography. For example, disgruntled employees have used AI to clone the voices of managers to create audio files that included racially derogatory comments that were then circulated, severely impacting the targeted employees. In at least one instance, the manager was falsely accused of discrimination.

As a result of the increase in AI-driven harassment, legislation is rapidly evolving, potentially increasing litigation risks for employers. In addition to the federal TAKE IT DOWN Act, the DEFIANCE Act is pending and would create a strong federal civil remedy for non‑consensual sexually explicit deepfakes. States are responding with a patchwork of legislation targeting AI harassment. Therefore, it is imperative that employment counsel be up to date on legislation and understand how to advise their clients on putting measures into place to mitigate risks posed by the misuse of AI in the workplace.

Listen as our expert panel discusses the rise of AI-driven harassment in the workplace, summarizes the recent litigation, examines the evolving legislative and regulatory landscape, and offers best practices for employers to mitigate risks of discrimination claims based on AI misuse.