A manager calls you to report that a sexually explicit picture of a co-worker is circulating around the company’s internal messaging platform. Everyone is talking about it. What do you do? The answer is more complicated than it might seem, especially if the image was never real to begin with. Deepfakes, or AI-generated images and videos that depict real people in fabricated scenarios, are no longer a distant technological curiosity. They have arrived in the workplace, and HR teams need to be ready.
The Intersection of Deepfakes and Workplace Harassment
Synthetic media depicting explicit or intimate content has become a tool for workplace harassment, raising significant employer liability concerns. Federal enforcement agencies have taken notice: the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has explicitly cautioned that sharing AI-generated intimate imagery at work can constitute unlawful harassment based on protected characteristics such as sex, race, or national origin. This guidance signals that employers may face Title VII claims if they fail to prevent or address the circulation of deepfake content among employees.
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