A group of Meta employees has initiated legal action against the company, alleging that it employed artificial intelligence tools to determine which workers would be laid off. The employees claim this method disproportionately impacted those on maternity leave, medical leave, or with disabilities.
The lawsuit, which was submitted to a federal court in California, accuses Meta of using AI-powered performance evaluations and employee activity data to decide which staff members would be let go during a workforce reduction that saw around 8,000 employees lose their jobs earlier this year. The complainants assert that Meta’s internal AI systems rated and ranked employees, bypassing traditional evaluations by managers. They argue that these AI systems did not adequately consider approved leave periods, leading to unfairly low performance scores for those who had taken family or medical leave or had accommodations for disabilities.
Included among the plaintiffs is a scientist who was notified of her termination just two days before giving birth. Another case involves an engineer who, while recovering from an injury, noticed a decline in his performance rating due to his absence. Additionally, a manager who had just begun medical leave claims he was laid off shortly thereafter.
The affected employees are asking the court to pause the layoffs while the lawsuit is underway. They are also seeking reinstatement, back pay, compensation for lost benefits, and an independent review of Meta’s AI systems. Meta, however, denies these allegations, maintaining that human decision-makers, not AI systems, are responsible for workforce and organizational decisions.
This legal challenge arises amid increasing scrutiny over the use of AI in workplace management, with critics cautioning that automated systems might inadvertently introduce biases against employees who take legally protected leaves.