{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-14T13:09:16.415Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"union-organising","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":1,"coverage":{"cases":1,"countries":1,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":0,"contextualRelations":1,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2025-languageline-interpreters-say-ai-scheduling-software-cut-and-fragmented-their-shifts","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"\"The change coincided with LanguageLine switching to a new workforce management software, NiCE, which advertises itself as providing\"; \"smarter scheduling, accurate forecasting, and real-time intraday optimization\"; \"LanguageLine said that NiCE was\"; \"used to forecast volume and determine schedules\"","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"\"after LanguageLine introduced a new AI workforce management program in 2025\"; \"said in an email that the rollout of AI software to forecast volume and create schedules had landed during a difficult stretch for the industry\"","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"LanguageLine Solutions, an interpretation company, began using NiCE workforce management software in 2025; LanguageLine says NiCE is used to forecast call volume and determine schedules, NiCE markets its scheduling as AI-powered, and Capital & Main reports that a LanguageLine spokesperson said in an email that the rollout of AI software to forecast volume and create schedules had landed during a difficult stretch.","causal_attribution":"The company's own statements to both outlets establish that the software forecasts volume and sets schedules; the AI description comes from the vendor's marketing quoted by NPR, Capital & Main's paraphrase (not a direct quotation) of the spokesperson's email, and interpreters' statements. Both company statements are one origin."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"\"hours were cut and became fragmented and unpredictable after her employer experienced a business downturn and started using new scheduling software\"; \"show that her income from LanguageLine fell 18% from 2024 to 2025\"; \"though other workers' tax forms did show decreases of 5% to 34% from 2024 to 2025\"","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"A Haitian Creole interpreter told NPR that in 2025 her hours were cut and became fragmented and unpredictable after the company had a business downturn and started using the new scheduling software; NPR reports that tax forms she provided show her LanguageLine income fell 18% from 2024 to 2025, and that other workers' tax forms showed decreases of 5% to 34%.","causal_attribution":"The interpreter's account and NPR's reading of tax forms. NPR itself ties the cuts to both a downturn and the new software; the share caused by the software is not established."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"\"what the company describes as mandatory involuntary time off, which showed up on their work schedules under the paycode\"; \"On Thursday I would have a regular schedule, and then by the end of my shift, I have AEX for Friday\"; \"When workers are put on AEX, they don't get paid.\"","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Interpreters told NPR that the schedule changes included unpaid mandatory involuntary time off, shown under the paycode AEX, assigned with little notice, sometimes on the evening before or in the middle of a working day.","causal_attribution":"Workers' accounts to NPR; the company says it adjusted schedules to lower volumes."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"\"For instance, seven hours off\"; \"and then an hour and a half left in the evening for you to work\"","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"\"They say it’s AI powered, and you can see that,\"; \"It cuts up your shifts into strange, pointless segments that aren’t convenient for any live human being.\"","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"A Russian-English interpreter told both outlets that the schedules split the working day into short segments, for example seven hours off and then an hour and a half of work in the evening, and attributed this to the AI-powered system.","causal_attribution":"One interpreter interviewed by two outlets: one origin."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"\"Now it moved around, seemingly at random. Entire shifts were eliminated from her schedule with little notice.\"; \"giving her as few as 15 seconds between calls during busy hours\"","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"A Spanish-language interpreter working from home in Texas told Capital & Main that after the 2025 AI workforce program her breaks moved around seemingly at random, entire shifts were eliminated from her schedule with little notice, and she had as few as 15 seconds between calls in busy hours.","causal_attribution":"Single interview."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"\"The introduction of NiCE, the AI-powered workforce software, has led to forced time off with little notice, workers said.\"; \"Sometimes they cut my hours, sometimes a full day,\"; \"Reduced hours means a reduced paycheck and reduced security,\"","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"A Spanish-language interpreter in Florida told Capital & Main that the AI-powered software led to forced time off with little notice, with her hours, sometimes a full day, cut and her pay reduced.","causal_attribution":"Single interview; the link to the software is the workers' account."},{"id":"c7","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"\"You start losing focus, start making mistakes.\"; \"income became so unstable that she quit in 2025\"","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"A Polish-English interpreter told NPR the shortened gaps between calls were draining, and NPR reports that her income became so unstable that she quit in 2025.","causal_attribution":"Single interview as reported by NPR."},{"id":"c8","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"\"have had to adjust schedules to accommodate lower-than-expected volumes\"; \"schedules have been more unpredictable than normal\"","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"\"attributed workers’ complaints about erratic schedules primarily to federal budget cuts\"; \"We acknowledge and regret the disruptions our interpreters have experienced\"","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"LanguageLine attributes the erratic schedules mainly to lower demand from federal budget cuts and an immigration crackdown, acknowledged that schedules had been more unpredictable than normal and regretted the disruptions, and says it has adjusted and operations are back to normal.","causal_attribution":"The company's statements; they dispute that the software is the main cause."}],"effects":[{"label":"cut, fragmented and short-notice schedules with unpaid involuntary time off","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"},{"label":"reported loss of income after hours were cut","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.npr.org/2026/05/03/nx-s1-5786926/jobs-labor-productivity-languageline-unionize","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English article of 3 May 2026 (with later corrections) read in full on 2026-10-14 (HTTP 200); no translation required. NPR interviewed interpreters, saw one interpreter's tax forms and quotes LanguageLine's statement and NiCE's marketing.","independence_group":"npr-interpreter-interviews"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://capitalandmain.com/ai-hasnt-replaced-these-interpreters-but-it-has-degraded-their-working-conditions","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English article of 7 September 2026 read in full on 2026-10-14 (HTTP 200); no translation required. Capital & Main interviewed about six interpreters and quotes a LanguageLine spokesperson. One interpreter was interviewed by both outlets; her accounts count as one origin.","independence_group":"capital-and-main-interpreter-interviews"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["work","finance"],"unknowns":["How far each cut followed from the software's forecasts rather than lower demand or management choices","How many interpreters lost hours or income; NPR and Capital & Main describe many workers without a count","Whether schedules stabilised after the company says it recalibrated the system","Which NiCE product and AI functions LanguageLine uses"],"geography":{"basis":"The interpreters described work for LanguageLine's US operation from their homes in New York (Brooklyn), Texas (El Paso) and Florida (s1, s2); Capital & Main says one worked as an interpreter from her home in El Paso. No court is involved.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published on two independent sets of worker interviews (NPR, Capital & Main) and the company's statements to both. The company says NiCE AI software forecasts volume and sets schedules, which establishes an automated allocation; interpreters describe concrete adverse arrangements and income loss. The company disputes that the software caused the cuts, and that dispute is recorded.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-14"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"LanguageLine told NPR that NiCE is used to forecast volume and determine schedules, NiCE markets AI-powered scheduling, and Capital & Main reports, paraphrasing a company spokesperson's email, a rollout of AI software to forecast volume and create schedules (c1). Interpreters describe the schedules the system produced: hours cut, shifts fragmented, unpaid involuntary time off at short notice and income loss (c2 to c7). The company says lower demand drove the cuts, so how far the software, rather than demand, decided each cut is disputed.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["made_decision_about"]},"name":"LanguageLine interpreters say AI scheduling software cut and fragmented their shifts and imposed unpaid time off at short notice","summary":"Interpreters at LanguageLine Solutions told NPR (May 2026) and Capital & Main (September 2026) that after the company adopted NiCE workforce management software in 2025, which LanguageLine says forecasts volume and determines schedules and which, according to Capital & Main's account of a company spokesperson's email, is AI software, their hours were cut, shifts were split into fragments and unpaid involuntary time off arrived with little notice. NPR reports that one interpreter's LanguageLine income fell 18% from 2024 to 2025. LanguageLine attributes the disruption mainly to lower demand, acknowledged that schedules had been more unpredictable than normal, and says operations are back to normal.","incidentDate":"2025-01-01","incidentKind":"ongoing_experience","incidentDatePrecision":"year","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-05-03","aiSystem":"NiCE workforce management software, which LanguageLine says it uses to forecast call volume and determine interpreters' schedules and which the vendor markets as AI-powered scheduling","aiProduct":"NiCE workforce management","aiCompany":"NiCE","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss","professional_harm","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Interpreters describe hours cut, fragmented shifts and unpaid involuntary time off at short notice after AI scheduling software was introduced; one interpreter's LanguageLine income fell 18% in 2025 per tax forms NPR saw, and another quit when her income became unstable.","frameworkFacets":[],"pathwayDirection":"inward","causationStatus":"disputed","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":5,"affectedCountStatus":"partial","affectedCountEvidence":"Five interpreters each describe a scheduling consequence: the Haitian Creole interpreter (c2), the Russian-English interpreter (c4), the Texas and Florida Spanish-language interpreters (c5, c6) and the Polish-English interpreter (c7). Both outlets say more workers were affected without a count; the 161-worker union survey and the 200-signature petition are not counts of harmed people. The interpreters were subject to the schedules, not users of the software.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.npr.org/2026/05/03/nx-s1-5786926/jobs-labor-productivity-languageline-unionize","primarySourceLabel":"NPR, 3 May 2026: How algorithms wreaked havoc with these workers' schedules and cut their pay","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-14T03:15:55.025062+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-14T03:15:55.025062+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["workplace-ai","scheduling","interpreters","nice","languageline","union-organising"]}]}