Meta laid off 8,000 employees last month. The company is now facing a lawsuit from 26 current workers who claim artificial intelligence (AI) systems helped decide who would lose their jobs. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Oakland, California, alleges Meta used internal AI tools, keystroke and activity-monitoring data, AI token-usage dashboards and algorithm-assisted performance rankings to select employees for layoffs. The workers claim the system unfairly affected employees who were on medical, parental or family leave because it failed to account for legally protected absences. The social media giant has denied the allegations, saying people—not AI—made workforce decisions.
Meta employees claim it used AI scores to decide layoffs
According to the lawsuit, Meta used internal AI systems, keystroke and activity-monitoring data, AI token-usage dashboards and algorithm-assisted performance rankings to identify employees for layoffs. The complaint says many of these scores and ratings could not fairly reflect the work of employees who were on protected medical, parental or family leave because they were not actively working during those periods.The employees further allege that Meta failed to adjust its review process to account for protected leave or disability accommodations before making layoff decisions.
Lawsuit cites federal and state discrimination laws
The employees argue the layoffs violated several state and federal laws, including the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.The lawsuit also argues that Meta’s selection process had a disparate impact, meaning a policy that appears neutral may still disproportionately affect protected groups. The plaintiffs claim the company’s algorithm-assisted system recorded time away on protected leave as lower performance, placing employees on leave at a disadvantage.The employees are asking the court to keep them employed while their claims move through arbitration, arguing that losing their jobs would also mean losing health insurance, leave benefits, unvested stock awards and, in some cases, could affect immigration status.
Many workers on parental and medical leave affected
The lawsuit says all 26 employees either took protected leave or requested reasonable accommodations for a disability. According to an AP report, about half of the plaintiffs had taken leave related to pregnancy or caregiving. The group includes eight women who took maternity or pregnancy-related leave, four men who took parental leave and one woman who took leave to care for a family member before later taking bereavement leave.Another employee, according to the complaint, had an approved disability-related medical leave but was allegedly warned by a manager that taking leave could result in being selected for layoffs.
Meta denies AI made layoff decisions
Meta has denied the allegations. In a statement, the company said, “the claims lack merit and are not based on facts. Workforce management and organizational decisions were and are made by people, not AI.”
