EEOC sues tutoring companies over alleged age bias in software

The U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission said Thursday that it has filed suit against three integrated tutoring companies that provide English-language tutoring services to students in China because it uses online recruitment software that automatically rejects older applicants because of their age.

The agency filed suit against Santa Clara, California-based iTutor Group Inc., Shanghai Ping’An Intelligent Education Technology Co. Ltd. and Tutor Group Ltd. in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, charging violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

The EEOC said in its statement that the companies hire thousands of tutors based in the United States each year to provide online tutoring for their homes or other remote locations.

It said the group programmed its tutor application software to automatically reject female applicants age 55 or older and male applicants age 60 or older, and that it had rejected more than 200 qualified applicants because of their age.

The agency is seeking back pay and liquidated damages for these applicants. The EEOC said it filed suit after the parties were unable to reach a settlement.

iTutor Group could not be reached for comment.