Lawsuit against Meta for use of artificial intelligence in layoffs
A group of 26 Meta employees filed a lawsuit alleging that the company used artificial intelligence systems to select who to fire. According to the complaint, the AI disproportionately targeted people who were on medical, parental or family leave.
The plaintiffs are part of the 8,000 employees — about 10% of the payroll — that Meta announced it would lay off in May. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Oakland, California, claims the company used keystroke data, activity monitoring and performance algorithms to determine the layoffs.
“An employee who is on protected medical or family leave, or whose productivity is reduced by a disability,” cannot by design achieve those scores, the lawsuit contends.
Meta responded in a statement that the allegations “lack foundation” and that the decisions were made by people, not by an AI.
The role of protected licenses
Many of the plaintiffs took pregnancy or paternity leave, a period in which they did not work, which reduced their productivity measures. Others were on medical leave; one of them revealed a serious health condition approved by Meta’s medical provider, but a manager discouraged him from taking the leave, warning him that he would be selected for the cut.
The lawsuit alleges that Meta violated federal laws such as the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. It also invokes the “disparate impact” doctrine, which notes that seemingly neutral policies can be discriminatory if they disproportionately affect a protected group.
Although the Trump administration has deprioritized enforcement of this doctrine, plaintiffs’ attorneys argue that companies remain vulnerable to disparate impact litigation. In this case, they maintain that Meta’s algorithmic process harms women more, who disproportionately take leave for pregnancy and third-party care.
The 26 employees continue to work at Meta while the arbitration is resolved. His discharge was scheduled for July 22. The lawyers ask to maintain the status quo, since “once these withdrawals are final, the damages are irreversible,” including the loss of health coverage and leave rights.
