As a Pawnee woman who is Deaf, I’ve long faced barriers to being evaluated fairly, not because I lack experience or qualifications, but because of systemic bias and technology that wasn’t built with people like me in mind.
So when I was offered a job at Intuit, a financial software company, in late 2019 as a tax associate, I was thrilled. In this role, I helped customers with their tax questions and consistently received high ratings for my service. I took pride in being able to resolve customer concerns quickly and with empathy.
My experience reflects a bigger problem: the systemic discrimination embedded in AI-powered hiring tools.
But, during my first year, I was shocked to learn that one of my key performance indicator scores was unusually low. After meeting with my manager, I learned that Intuit’s artificial intelligence (AI) software—used to measure how closely employees followed call scripts—wasn’t accurately recognizing my speech because of my Deaf accent. Instead of correcting the problem, I was reassigned to a role that no longer involved answering customer calls. Even after that setback, I stayed committed to my work. In 2021, I was promoted to Tax Expert Lead. Over the next three tax seasons, I consistently hit high performance metrics and received positive feedback.
In 2023, I joined Intuit’s Accessibility Team to help identify and address barriers that people with disabilities face across the company’s services. During that time, I raised concerns about Intuit’s use of HireVue—a vendor that provides AI-based video interviewing software—as part of the company’s hiring process. I specifically noted that the platform posed challenges for deaf and hard-of-hearing applicants. The Accessibility Team chair said they would look into it, but I never heard about any follow-up or action taken.
AI should never be used as a barrier. It’s time for action, accountability, and justice.
After the 2023 tax season, my manager—who was also part of the hiring committee—encouraged me to apply for a seasonal manager position. It was the next logical step in my career, and I knew I was qualified. I applied in spring 2024.Soon after, I received an invitation to complete a video interview using the HireVue platform. I immediately knew this would be a problem because the platform didn’t provide consistent subtitles for all audio content. In fact, studies show that the technology underlying HireVue performs worse for non-white speakers and even worse for speakers with a deaf accent.
I requested an accommodation: human-generated captioning for the interview. Unfortunately, Intuit did not provide me with this requested accommodation, instead saying that HireVue had built-in subtitles. But, when I began the interview, those subtitles weren’t there for all the content. I had to rely on Google Chrome’s auto-captions, which were full of errors and made it hard to fully understand the questions. Still, I pushed forward. I did my best, confident in my qualifications and experience.
Weeks later, I got an email letting me know Intuit had moved on with other candidates. The feedback I received was devastating: I was told to improve my communication by being more concise, adapting my style to different audiences, and projecting more confidence. What hurt the most was the suggestion that I “practice active listening. ”As a Deaf woman, that comment was not only ignorant—it was deeply offensive. It made me feel like the HireVue system had completely failed to assess me fairly. Worse, it made clear that the people interpreting the HireVue results didn’t understand the realities of Deaf communication.
My experience reflects a bigger problem: the systemic discrimination embedded in AI-powered hiring tools. These systems were not built for people like me. Native professionals, deaf individuals, and countless others are being unfairly screened out by biased technology that prioritizes data over human understanding.
That’s why the ACLU, the ACLU of Colorado, Public Justice, and Eisenberg & Baum, LLP have filed a complaint with the Colorado Civil Rights Division and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The complaint charges Intuit and HireVue with violating the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
Real change is needed. Companies must stop using hiring technologies that discriminate against disabled and non-white applicants. They must implement accessible, equitable hiring practices that evaluate people based on their skills, experience, and potential—not on biased algorithms.
AI should never be used as a barrier. It’s time for action, accountability, and justice.
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