The University of Kentucky recently granted an employee’s request for religious accommodation to not use artificial intelligence tools in his job. David Durman is a 45-year-old research administrator who identifies as a humanist, a central tenet of which is critical thinking. Humanism is generally a nontheistic belief system that emphasizes human dignity, reason and humans’ responsibility to care for one another. Courts have treated humanism as a recognizable religion under Title VII. When the University encouraged its employees to incorporate AI into their daily workflow, Durman became concerned about the offloading of his cognitive abilities and decision making. He requested a religious accommodation from the University to be excused from using AI. Durman argued that his beliefs required him to “actively honor human worth, moral agency, and personal responsibility in my daily life and work, and are fundamentally incompatible with practices that diminish or displace the human role in human community and endeavor.” The University, after considering the request, determined it would not cause an undue burden and granted Durman his accommodation to excuse him from personally using AI on the job.
Employers should expect to see more faith-based accommodation requests to excuse employees from using some or all types of artificial intelligence and be prepared to adequately consider these requests as legitimate requests under Title VII.
