{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-23T07:22:51.840Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"us","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"contextual","evidence":"","year":"2020","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":2,"coverage":{"cases":2,"countries":1,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":1,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":1,"regulatory":0,"minors":1,"coreRelations":0,"contextualRelations":2,"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":"2020-mac-make-up-artists-say-hirevue-algorithm-marked-video-interview-led-to-redundancy-estee-lauder-settled","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"The make-up artists lost their jobs after they were told to reapply for their posts via an automated video interview.; The software is made by the recruitment company HireVue, and the process dates back to 2020, following the furlough scheme.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"The former MAC retail workers were told by its parent that redundancies were being made, and that they would have to reapply for their roles.; As part of that process, a video interview took place, which was run by US tech company HireVue, and was marked by an algorithm.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"In a 2020 redundancy process, three MAC make-up artists were told to reapply for their roles and to complete a video interview run by HireVue and marked by an algorithm.","causal_attribution":"Both outlets relay the BBC Three documentary Computer Says No and the Times; the company confirms that a HireVue skills assessment was part of the consultation process."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Following the interview, they were informed they were being made redundant, partly as a result of the automated judgement by the computer.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"All three women lost their jobs following the interview.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"All three lost their jobs following the interview; City AM reports that they were made redundant partly as a result of the automated judgement.","causal_attribution":"The women's account relayed by both outlets; the company says performance data and qualitative feedback made up most of the assessment and denies that facial recognition played a decisive role."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Nobody saw the video, it was all algorithms.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"The three women also said that no one could explain how they were scored in the HireVue interview.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The women say no one could explain how they were scored in the HireVue interview, and one said nobody watched the video.","causal_attribution":"The women's statements in the BBC Three documentary, relayed by both outlets."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Three former Estée Lauder staff have won a settlement against the cosmetics giant","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"has settled out of court with three make-up artists; All three women were unable to discuss the value of the agreement reached with ELC in the documentary.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Estée Lauder Companies settled the three women's claims out of court; the value was not disclosed.","causal_attribution":"Reported by both outlets from the documentary and the Times; no settlement terms or admission are reported."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"using the HireVue process in tandem with human decision-making produces fairer outcomes and we stand by it; facial recognition accounted for well under 1% (0.25%) of employees’ overall assessment.; which accounted for the majority of the employment assessment, to make decisions on employment.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"All interviewees were told in advance the consultation process would involve HireVue skills assessment and the role that technology would play in the process.; any suggestion that facial recognition technology played a decisive role in any employment-related decision","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Estée Lauder says interviewees were told in advance about the HireVue skills assessment, that the HireVue process used in tandem with human decision-making produces fairer outcomes, that facial recognition was about 0.25% of the overall assessment, that performance data and qualitative feedback made up most of it, and that any suggestion facial recognition played a decisive role is false.","causal_attribution":"The company's statements to City AM, Cosmetics Business and the Times."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"said that the video analysis component of HireVue’s algorithm was “voluntarily discontinued nearly two years ago”","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"HireVue's chief executive said the video-analysis component of its algorithm had been voluntarily discontinued nearly two years before the March 2022 reports.","causal_attribution":"HireVue's statement relayed by Cosmetics Business; it does not say whether the component was used in the women's interviews."}],"effects":[{"label":"job loss following an algorithm-marked video interview in redundancy selection","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.cityam.com/estee-lauder-settles-with-former-staff-over-algorithm-redundancies/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English article of 17 March 2022 read in full on 2026-10-22 by the research agent (an AI) (HTTP 200); no translation required. It relays the BBC Three documentary and the Times and carries a company statement given to City AM.","independence_group":"bbc-three-computer-says-no-and-company-statements"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.cosmeticsbusiness.com/est-e-lauder-settles-out-of-court-with-staff-who-were-sacked-by-algorithm--199624","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English article published 21 March 2022 read in full on 2026-10-22 by the research agent (an AI) (HTTP 200); no translation required. It relays the BBC Three documentary and carries statements from the company and HireVue; it depends on the same documentary as s1.","independence_group":"bbc-three-computer-says-no-and-company-statements"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["work"],"unknowns":["How much each woman's HireVue score weighed against performance data and qualitative feedback in her selection.","Whether HireVue's video-analysis component was used in these interviews; HireVue said it had been discontinued about two years before March 2022.","The settlement terms and whether any claim reached a tribunal hearing.","Where the women worked within MAC UK & Ireland."],"geography":{"basis":"The sources name the employer unit as MAC UK & Ireland and mention the furlough scheme and BBC Three, but do not state where the women worked or where they brought their claims, so no country is recorded.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a workplace adverse experience: an algorithm marked the women's HireVue video interviews in a redundancy process, the employer confirms it used that assessment alongside human decisions, and the three lost their jobs and settled their claims. The weight of the algorithm's marking is disputed by the employer and is recorded as such.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-22"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Both outlets report that the women's video interviews were run by HireVue and marked by an algorithm, and Estée Lauder confirms that a HireVue skills assessment was part of the consultation and was used in tandem with human decision-making. City AM reports the women were made redundant partly as a result of that automated judgement. The company disputes its weight: it says facial recognition was about 0.25% of the assessment and performance data and qualitative feedback the majority, so the AI involvement is confirmed by the employer and how far the algorithm's marking decided each outcome is disputed.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["made_claim_about","informed_decision_about"]},"name":"Three MAC make-up artists say an algorithm-marked HireVue video interview led to their redundancy; Estée Lauder settled their claims","summary":"City AM and Cosmetics Business reported in March 2022, relaying the BBC Three documentary Computer Says No and the Times, that three make-up artists at MAC, an Estée Lauder Companies brand, lost their jobs in a 2020 redundancy process after being told to reapply for their roles through a video interview run by HireVue and marked by an algorithm. City AM reports that they were made redundant partly as a result of the automated judgement. The women said no one could explain how they had been scored, and one said nobody watched the video. Estée Lauder settled their claims out of court; the amount was not disclosed. The company says staff were told in advance about the HireVue skills assessment, that the process was used in tandem with human decision-making, that facial recognition made up about 0.25% of the overall assessment and performance data and qualitative feedback most of it, and that any suggestion facial recognition played a decisive role is false. HireVue said its video-analysis component had been discontinued about two years earlier. How much the HireVue score weighed in each decision is not reported.","incidentDate":"2020-01-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"year","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2022-03-17","aiSystem":"HireVue video interview and skills assessment, marked by an algorithm, used by Estée Lauder Companies in a 2020 redundancy process at MAC","aiProduct":"HireVue","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["professional_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Three make-up artists lost their jobs in a 2020 redundancy process after a HireVue video interview marked by an algorithm; City AM reports the automated judgement was part of the reason, and the company disputes that facial recognition was decisive (women's account and company statements relayed by two outlets).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"disputed","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":3,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"Three former make-up artists: 'All three women lost their jobs following the interview' (Cosmetics Business) and 'Three former Estée Lauder staff have won a settlement' (City AM). They were assessed by the system, not its users.","victimAgeRange":"adult","platformType":"other","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.cityam.com/estee-lauder-settles-with-former-staff-over-algorithm-redundancies/","primarySourceLabel":"City AM, 17 March 2022: Estée Lauder settles with former staff over algorithm redundancies","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-22T03:08:12.444441+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-22T03:08:12.444441+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["ai-hiring-assessment","redundancy","workplace-ai","video-interview"]},{"id":"2020-aurora-colorado-license-plate-reader-alert-woman-four-children-gunpoint-stop-settlement","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'stopped the car, which they believed to be stolen, and ordered the four children'; 'Video shows the children screaming in fear as police handcuffed'; 'handcuffed two of the children'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'wrongfully forced out of their car on Aug. 2, 2020, in Aurora, Colo.'; 'everyone was ordered out and put on the ground'; 'Officers kept their guns drawn for about three-and-a-half minutes'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"On 2 August 2020 Aurora police officers stopped a car they believed to be stolen and ordered the woman driving it and four children to the ground at gunpoint. Two of the children were handcuffed.","causal_attribution":"The Denver Post from the prosecutors' letter and video; Sentinel Colorado from body camera video and the prosecutors' investigation. Kept as reported because both accounts draw on the prosecutors' investigation."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'A license plate reader installed at an Aurora intersection had alerted police to the car, a blue SUV, because it had the same license plate numbers as a stolen motorcycle from Montana.'; 'Police failed to double-check a reading from a license plate scanner before making the stop.'; 'Officers failed to check whether the SUV matched the physical description of the stolen vehicle.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'with Colorado license plates was stolen'; 'the vehicle that was actually stolen was a motorcycle with the same license plate number in Montana'","relation":"context","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"A license plate reader at an Aurora intersection alerted police to the car because its plate number matched that of a stolen motorcycle registered in Montana, and officers did not check the reading or the vehicle description before the stop.","causal_attribution":"The Denver Post's account in its report on the prosecutors' decision; the article does not attribute the reader sentences to the letter. Sentinel Colorado confirms the same-number mix-up and attributes the notification to the department's system without mentioning a reader."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The two girls remained handcuffed for four minutes, even after dispatchers confirmed that'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'removed the girls’ handcuffs after about eight-and-a-half minutes'","relation":"context","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Two of the children remained handcuffed for four minutes after dispatchers confirmed the car was not stolen.","causal_attribution":"The prosecutors' letter as reported by The Denver Post. Sentinel Colorado gives the total time in handcuffs as about eight and a half minutes."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'will not face criminal charges, prosecutors announced Friday'; 'What happened to the innocent occupants is unacceptable and preventable'; 'All department officers are re-doing training regarding license plate scanners'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Prosecutors declined to charge the officers in January 2021, calling what happened unacceptable and preventable, and the department said all officers were repeating training on license plate scanners.","causal_attribution":"Prosecutors' decision and the department spokesperson as reported by The Denver Post."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'the City of Aurora has agreed to a $1.9 million settlement'; 'announced Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, that the family has reached a $1.9 million legal settlement with the city of Aurora'; 'In a written statement, the city confirmed a deal had been reached.'; 'The money will be evenly divided among'; 'was suspended for 160 hours'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The City of Aurora agreed to a $1.9 million settlement with the woman and the four children, announced by their lawyer on 5 February 2024 and confirmed by the city, to be divided evenly among the five. One of the two officers was suspended for 160 hours.","causal_attribution":"Settlement as announced by the lawyer for the woman and the children and confirmed by the city, reported by Sentinel Colorado. The agreement was not read."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Mentally, it destroyed me because I felt like not only am I not safe'; 'began acting out and became withdrawn'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The woman said the stop destroyed her mentally, and that one of the children began acting out and became withdrawn afterwards.","causal_attribution":"The woman's own account in an interview reported by Sentinel Colorado."}],"effects":[{"label":"a woman and four children ordered out of a car and onto the ground at gunpoint, two of the children handcuffed, after a license plate reader alert that officers did not verify","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.denverpost.com/2021/01/08/aurora-police-traffic-stop-no-charges/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live in English on 2026-10-05 and re-read live on 2026-10-06 (The Denver Post, 8 January 2021). Rests on the 18th Judicial District prosecutors' decision letter, bystander video and the family's attorney.","independence_group":"denverpost-da-decision-letter"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://sentinelcolorado.com/metro/family-of-black-girls-handcuffed-by-aurora-police-held-at-gunpoint-reach-1-9-million-settlement/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-05 and 2026-10-06 from an Internet Archive capture. The live page returned HTTP 429 both days. Sentinel Colorado, February 2024, Associated Press copy (AP byline and photo credits on the page). Rests on the family lawyer's announcement, a written statement from the city, body camera video, the prosecutors' investigation and an interview with the driver. It says the department's system notified officers and does not mention a license plate reader.","independence_group":"ap-aurora-settlement-2024"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["justice"],"unknowns":["The vendor and technology of the license plate reader.","Whether the reader's alert displayed the issuing state or vehicle type.","Whether the department changed its license plate reader procedures beyond the retraining it described."],"geography":{"basis":"The stop was made by Aurora police in a parking lot in Aurora, Colorado, and the lawsuit was settled by the City of Aurora (The Denver Post, Sentinel Colorado).","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"The Denver Post, in its report on the prosecutors' decision, says a license plate reader alerted police to the SUV on a plate-number match with a stolen Montana motorcycle, and that officers did not verify the alert before ordering a woman and four children to the ground at gunpoint. Sentinel Colorado reports the department's system flagged the Colorado-plated SUV and reports the $1.9 million settlement with the city. The woman and the children are not named, and the reader's vendor is unidentified.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-06"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The Denver Post, in its report on the prosecutors' decision, says a license plate reader installed at an Aurora intersection alerted police to the SUV because it had the same plate number as a stolen motorcycle from Montana. Sentinel Colorado says the department's system flagged the SUV, which carried Colorado plates, as stolen. The reader's match on the plate number alone, ignoring the issuing state and the vehicle type, produced the stolen-vehicle alert on which officers made the gunpoint stop. Officers also did not double-check the reading or the vehicle description. No source names the reader's vendor or describes its technology.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["made_claim_about"]},"name":"Aurora, Colorado: police held a woman and four children at gunpoint in 2020 after a plate reader matched her SUV to a stolen motorcycle, The Denver Post reports","summary":"On 2 August 2020 Aurora police officers stopped an SUV they believed to be stolen, ordered the woman driving it and four children to lie on the ground at gunpoint, and handcuffed two of the children. The Denver Post reported that a license plate reader at an Aurora intersection had alerted police because the SUV had the same plate number as a stolen motorcycle from Montana, and that officers did not check the reading or the vehicle description. Prosecutors declined to charge the officers in January 2021 and called what happened unacceptable and preventable. The department said all officers were repeating training on license plate scanners. Sentinel Colorado reported that the department's system had flagged the SUV, which carried Colorado plates, and that the City of Aurora agreed in February 2024 to a $1.9 million settlement with the woman and the children to resolve a lawsuit over the officers' actions. One officer was suspended for 160 hours. The woman said the stop destroyed her mentally and that one of the children became withdrawn.","incidentDate":"2020-08-02","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2021-01-08","aiSystem":"A fixed license plate reader installed at an Aurora intersection that alerted police to the car on a plate-number match with a stolen Montana motorcycle (The Denver Post); vendor not named","aiProduct":"Unidentified license plate reader","aiCompany":"Unknown","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["loss_of_liberty","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A woman and four children were held on the ground at gunpoint and two of the children were handcuffed (The Denver Post from the prosecutors' letter). The woman told an interviewer that the stop destroyed her mentally and that one of the children became withdrawn (Sentinel Colorado).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":5,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"Five people in the car, the woman driving and four children, all ordered to the ground (The Denver Post; Sentinel Colorado). Exact 5.","victimAgeRange":"minor","jurisdiction":"US-CO","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"lawsuit_settled","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.denverpost.com/2021/01/08/aurora-police-traffic-stop-no-charges/","primarySourceLabel":"The Denver Post, 8 January 2021: No charges for Aurora police officers who held children at gunpoint after erroneous traffic stop","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-05T03:12:34.885576+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-06T03:04:56.590358+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["alpr","license-plate-reader","hotlist-match","wrongful-stop","gunpoint","minors","colorado","aurora","justice","made-claim-about","settlement"]}]}