You polish your résumé. You write a thoughtful cover letter. You click “submit.” Within minutes, sometimes seconds, the rejection arrives.

No human read it. A machine decided you were too old.

Most people I talk to don’t believe this. Here are the facts.

In 2023, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) settled its first case involving AI in hiring. An online tutoring company, iTutorGroup, had programmed its software to automatically reject women 55 and older and men 60 and older. Not a glitch. A rule. The company paid $365,000.

How was it caught? A rejected applicant resubmitted the same application with a younger birth date. This time, they offered an interview.

Here is the part that leaves me shaking my head. Same person. Same skills. Different birth year.

Now there is a bigger case. Derek Mobley, a man over 40, applied for more than 100 jobs at companies using Workday’s screening platform and was rejected every time. In 2025, a federal judge allowed applicants 40 and older to join his lawsuit, and this year the AARP Foundation asked to support them in court. Workday denies the claims. The case continues.

In May 2026, a University of Melbourne professor asked ChatGPT which age group a tech employer should hire. It recommended people aged 21 to 45. No one older was mentioned.

Filtering people by numbers isn’t new. As a headhunter, I worked with one company that would only interview candidates with a certain SAT score, and another that would only hire from Ivy League schools. Brilliant people never got through the door. The machine just does it faster, to millions, without a face.

It’s called human resources. Human is the first word. Work is about people. Hiring should be person to person, not person to machine. A conversation. Dignity. Facts and feelings. Experience met with empathy and respect. Talk with us. You might learn something.

Until then, protect yourself. From the moment you apply, document everything:

• Save every job posting, application, and confirmation.
• Note how fast each rejection arrives. Minutes can mean a machine.
• After every call or interview, write down the date, the names, and the exact words while they are fresh.
• Keep every email, voicemail, and text.

Before recording any conversation, check your local law. Some places require everyone’s consent.

Age discrimination has been illegal since 1967, and the law still applies when a machine does the rejecting. In the U.S., you generally have 180 days, or 300 in many states, to file a charge with the EEOC. Your notes are your evidence.

The iTutorGroup case began with one person who refused to accept a silent no.

Tomorrow: what to do when the no comes face to face.

All your skills are transferable. And you are not finished yet.

Thanks – Michael (he, him)

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This matters also – What Age Discrimination Gets Wrong About You.

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