In recent years, we have noticed major changes in the way many employees lodge complaints about workplace treatment with their companies. In the past, these complaints were often a stream of consciousness of alleged events and grievances. We are now seeing more frequent submission of complaints by employees that appear to have been written by legal counsel. The complaints quote applicable laws and claim that the employer’s actions or inactions have resulted in clear legal violations that give those employees or former employees a cause of action to pursue litigation or administrative complaints against the company.

In many of these situations, we conclude that the employee used ChatGPT or another AI tool to prepare their complaint (inclusion of the infamous em dash is a good giveaway that the complaint was written with AI tools). These complaints often cause consternation for employers because, on their face, they appear to contain plausible allegations of legal violations. However, upon deeper analysis the legal claims may not be as strong as they first appear.

The AI tools misapply basic employment law principles in many circumstances. For example, the employee submits a long complaint alleging that they were subjected to a hostile and offensive work environment, quoting statutory remedies for these claims. When read more closely, the employer realizes that the complaint involves the employee’s concerns over work decisions or interpersonal conflicts among coworkers. The complaint fails to tie the allegations of hostile work environment to any protected classification (such as race or gender), resulting in no potential liability in most states.

Employers that receive internal complaints that appear to have been ghostwritten by a lawyer should take a deep breath before overreacting. HR should review and appropriately respond to the employee grievances without assuming that they reflect genuine legal risk. While AI tools continue to improve, the mere use of legal language or case or statutory citations does not mean that the company faces exposure to viable claims.

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