26 Meta employees sue, alleging AI-driven layoff picks hit workers on medical and parental leave
Twenty-six Meta employees have filed a lawsuit alleging the company used AI-driven performance monitoring to unfairly target workers on medical or parental leave for layoffs. The plaintiffs claim the automated systems failed to account for protected leave, leading to discriminatory termination practices.
Why it matters
This case highlights the growing legal and ethical challenges surrounding the use of AI in human resources and workforce management.
A group of 26 Meta employees has sued the company, claiming it used artificial intelligence systems to select people for layoffs, disproportionately targeting those on medical, parental or family leave.
They are among the 8,000 employees, or about 10% of its workforce, Meta said it would lay off in May. The lawsuit filed late Monday in federal court in Oakland, California, claims the company used internal AI systems, keystroke and activity-monitoring data, AI token-usage dashboards and algorithmically assisted performance rankings, among other methods, to determine who would be laid off.
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