Meta employees said that the AI had laid off people with disabilities and those on sick leave
Twenty-six Meta Platforms employees filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court in California, accusing the company of using artificial intelligence systems to select employees for layoffs.
According to the plaintiffs, the algorithms disproportionately targeted people with disabilities, those on sick leave, or those caring for family members for layoffs. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Oakland on July 14.
The plaintiffs allege that during this year’s workforce reduction, Meta used productivity and activity metrics in its artificial intelligence tools. As a result, they say, employees who were absent from work due to health issues, pregnancy, or family circumstances were put at a disadvantage.
The 26 employees, who were notified of their layoffs in May, are asking the court to temporarily halt the layoffs scheduled for July 22 while the case is pending. They also allege that Meta violated federal and state laws prohibiting discrimination against employees based on health status or medical leave.
Meta has denied the allegations. A company spokesperson stated that decisions regarding personnel management and layoffs were made by people, not artificial intelligence.
According to the lawsuit, the company used several internal AI-powered systems to evaluate employees. These included the Metamate language model, the internal Second Brain system—which analyzed work documents and communications—and a productivity assessment tool that tracked keystrokes, screen content, emails, and browser history.
Reuters notes that this could be the first lawsuit against a major U.S. company challenging the use of artificial intelligence during mass layoffs. Meta previously cut about 10% of its global workforce—nearly 8,000 employees—as part of a large-scale restructuring and increased investment in AI technology development.
This was reported by Reuters.
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