Meta accused of using biased AI targeting for mass layoffs
Former Meta employees have filed a lawsuit alleging that the company used biased AI tools to target workers on parental or medical leave for layoffs. Meta has denied these claims, asserting that workforce decisions are made by humans rather than algorithms.
Why it matters
This case highlights the growing legal and ethical concerns regarding the use of AI in human resources and corporate decision-making processes.
A group of 26 former Meta employees is suing the company over claims that it used AI tools to unfairly target workers on leave with layoffs, as reported earlier by Reuters. In the lawsuit, the employees allege Meta determined which workers to dismiss based on performance data collected by a “constellation” of internal AI tools, but failed to exclude those on parental or medical leave from its ranking system:
> The result was that employees who took protected leaves were disproportionately selected for layoff, based on scoring that not only failed to account for their protected leaves, but in effect penalized the employees for exercising their legal rights to these leaves.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in