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The rules in force today do not single out AI-assisted firing as its own category. New York City regulates certain automated tools used to screen job candidates and decide promotions. Colorado has enacted a broader law covering automated decision-making in consequential decisions, including employment, but its new provisions do not take effect until January 1, 2027. Whether either one helps a particular worker depends on where that worker was employed, what the tool actually did, and what kind of decision was made.
Why “hired or promoted” matters more than “fired”
The New York City rules are built around a defined set of employment decisions. The city’s Administrative Code defines an employment decision, for its automated tool rules, as screening candidates for employment or screening employees for promotion within the city. Termination is not named in that definition. A tool used only to decide who is let go is therefore not clearly covered by the audit and notice duties described below, even though other city protections may still reach the same conduct.
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Colorado starts from a different premise. Its law is organized around “consequential decisions” listed by area, and employment is one of those areas. That makes its scope wider, but its key worker rights do not apply until 2027.
For a worker who was dismissed, the useful question is not simply “was AI involved?” It is whether the tool fits New York City’s definition, whether the decision falls within Colorado’s list once that law is in force, and whether existing discrimination or accommodation law applies to what happened.
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New York City: Local Law 144 and the rules around it
What counts as a covered tool
The Administrative Code defines an automated employment decision tool as a computational process derived from machine learning, statistical modeling, data analytics, or artificial intelligence. To be covered, the tool must issue a score, classification, recommendation, or similar simplified output, and it must substantially assist or replace discretionary decision-making in an employment decision. Both parts of that test matter. The code’s text alone does not settle whether a given tool meets them, so the facts of each tool need to be examined.
Audit, public summary, and notice
For covered uses, the code requires three things before the tool is used:
- A bias audit conducted no more than one year before use.
- Public availability of a summary of the most recent audit, together with the date the tool was distributed.
- Notice to candidates or employees that the tool will be used. The Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) states that this notice must be given 10 business days before use.
DCWP says enforcement of these requirements began on July 5, 2023, and it provides a complaint route for suspected audit, posting, or notice failures. Online copies of the code can lag behind amendments, so check DCWP’s current agency pages alongside the code text before relying on either.
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On October 1, 2026, DCWP, the Taxi and Limousine Commission, and the Commission on Human Rights issued a shared AI enforcement policy statement. It says a business cannot avoid responsibility for violating city law because it relied on AI, an algorithm, or other technology. It treats existing worker protections and the NYC Human Rights Law as applying to conduct that technology influences. The statement sets out an enforcement position. It does not create a new right for every worker to appeal an AI-influenced dismissal.
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The city’s release quotes Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su: “A company that breaks the law is responsible for what its technology does, and the agencies that enforce our laws and this will hold violators accountable.” It also quotes Commission on Human Rights Commissioner and Chair Christine Clark: “Discrimination is illegal, whether that discrimination is committed by a person or an algorithm.” Both are statements from the release, not statutory language or court rulings.
Disability and accommodation
The Commission on Human Rights’ disability discrimination guidance says covered entities are responsible for the technology and AI they use and cannot escape liability by attributing discrimination to an algorithm. It also says that failing to allow reasonable accommodation in using an application, or failing to offer an alternative application method, may violate city human-rights law. That guidance is written around application steps, so it speaks most directly to hiring and promotion. For a dismissal that involved a disability-related problem with a tool, the Commission’s guidance is the place to start.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Colorado: SB 26-189
Colorado’s legislature records SB 26-189 as enacted and signed on May 14, 2026. The bill defines automated decision-making technology broadly, as technology that processes personal data and uses computation to generate outputs that make, guide, or assist decisions about individuals. Because the definition reaches tools that assist a decision, not only tools that make it, it is wider than a rule aimed only at fully automated firing.
Rights and duties that start January 1, 2027
According to the official legislative summary, the law’s new provisions take effect January 1, 2027, and include:
- Notice that automated decision technology is being used in a consequential decision.
- A right to request the personal data used about you and to correct inaccurate data.
- A right to request meaningful human review and reconsideration after an adverse consequential decision.
- Developer documentation duties and record retention requirements.
Enforcement, rulemaking, and what is not created
The Attorney General enforces the law through the Colorado Consumer Protection Act. The bill summary states that it does not create a new private right of action, so a worker cannot bring a new lawsuit under this law itself. The Attorney General’s office says rulemaking is required before the effective date, and its ADMT rulemaking page is the place to check implementation status. As of October 2026, none of the new provisions is in force.
Colorado’s 2024 law is not the operative text
Colorado passed an earlier AI law in 2024. SB 26-189 repealed and reenacted those provisions with new requirements, so older summaries that describe the 2024 framework as the current rules are out of date. Use the 2026 enacted text.
Quick Recap
How the two regimes compare
| Area | New York City | Colorado |
|---|---|---|
| Geography | New York City | Colorado (state law) |
| Covered system | Automated employment decision tools that score, classify, or recommend and substantially assist or replace discretionary decisions | Automated decision-making technology that makes, guides, or assists consequential decisions about individuals |
| Decisions covered | Screening candidates for employment or employees for promotion | Consequential decisions, with employment as one listed area |
| Bias audit | Required, conducted no more than one year before use | Not stated in the official 2026 bill summary; developer documentation duties apply instead |
| Notice | Required 10 business days before use, per DCWP | Notice of use in a consequential decision |
| Worker rights | Public audit summary and tool distribution date; complaint routes to DCWP and the Commission on Human Rights | Request personal data and correct inaccurate data; request meaningful human review and reconsideration after an adverse decision |
| Enforcement | DCWP for audit, posting, and notice failures; Commission on Human Rights for discrimination and accommodation | Attorney General under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act; no new private right of action |
| Timing | In enforcement since July 5, 2023 | Takes effect January 1, 2027; rulemaking required first |
What these rules do not establish
- No general ban on AI-assisted firing. Covered uses are regulated, but neither regime prohibits using a tool in a termination decision as such.
- No universal right to human review. Colorado’s reconsideration right is tied to adverse consequential decisions under its law and starts in 2027. The New York City rules described above include no comparable entitlement.
- No appeal of every AI-influenced decision. The October 2026 city statement sets enforcement policy. It does not give every worker a general right to contest an automated outcome.
- No official count of AI-related dismissals. The official texts cited here do not quantify how many workers have been fired with AI involvement, and they do not measure how often these protections change an outcome.
- Coverage limited to two jurisdictions. This article covers New York City and Colorado only. It does not survey other states, cities, or countries, whose rules may differ.
If you suspect AI played a part in your dismissal
- Confirm where you worked. New York City’s tool rules apply within the city. Colorado’s law is a state law, and its new provisions are not in force until January 1, 2027. Other locations need separate checks.
- Write down what you know. Record the date of the decision, who communicated it, the reason you were given, and whether anyone mentioned software, a score, an automated review, or a tool.
- Ask in writing. Ask your employer whether an automated tool was used to assess you, what it assessed, and whether notice was given. In New York City, notice for covered uses is required before use, so a missing notice is itself worth raising. Colorado’s correction, data-request, and human-review rights are not in force until January 1, 2027, so they cannot be relied on for a dismissal before that date.
- Keep your records. Keep notices, performance reviews, termination paperwork, and messages about the decision or the tool. This is general documentation practice, not a statement that every employer must provide each record.
- Match the issue to the agency. For suspected audit, public-posting, or notice failures under New York City’s rules, use DCWP’s complaint route. For discrimination or failure to accommodate, start with the NYC Commission on Human Rights and its disability guidance.
- Check deadlines and get advice. Filing windows for agency complaints and court claims vary and are not covered in this article, so confirm them early. An employment lawyer in your state or city can tell you which rules apply to your facts.
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