Meta is being sued by a group of employees who allege that the company utilized artificial intelligence systems to determine layoffs, disproportionately targeting those on maternity leave, medical leave, and employees with disabilities. The lawsuit, lodged in a California federal court, claims that AI-driven performance ratings and employee activity data, including productivity metrics, were used to select staff for job reductions, impacting approximately 8,000 workers earlier this year.
The complaint suggests that Meta relied on internal AI systems to evaluate and rank employees rather than using managerial assessments. The plaintiffs contend that these 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 disability accommodations. The lawsuit highlights specific cases, including a scientist who was notified of her termination just two days before giving birth and an engineer whose performance rating suffered due to his absence while recovering from an injury. Additionally, a manager on medical leave claims he was dismissed shortly after his leave commenced.
The employees involved in the lawsuit are seeking a court order to pause the layoffs during the legal proceedings. They are also requesting to be reinstated, compensated for lost wages and benefits, and are calling for an independent review of Meta’s AI systems. Meta, however, has refuted the claims, asserting that decisions regarding workforce and organizational changes are made by humans rather than AI systems.
This legal action emerges amid increasing scrutiny over the role of AI in workplace decision-making. Critics have voiced concerns that automated systems could inadvertently introduce bias against employees who take legally protected leave, raising broader questions about the fairness and transparency of AI applications in employment practices.