Meta Faces Lawsuit Over AI Use in Recent Layoffs Allegedly Discriminating Against Protected Leaves

A group of 26 current and former Meta employees has filed a lawsuit in a federal court in California, accusing the company of using internal AI systems to determine the list of employees laid off in its recent workforce reduction. The lawsuit claims that Meta's AI evaluated metrics such as performance, output, productivity, and AI tool usage but failed to properly account for legally protected absences including maternity leave, approved sick leave, family leave, or temporary productivity declines due to medical conditions.

According to the plaintiffs, this led the algorithms to label them as low-performing employees despite their absences being lawful and authorized. They are requesting the court to freeze their layoffs pending an independent review of the selection process. Meta has denied these allegations, with a company spokesperson telling CNBC that the accusations are baseless and that human personnel made the employment decisions, not AI systems.

This lawsuit adds to the broader debate in the United States about the use of algorithms in employment decisions, particularly concerning workers with disabilities, protected leaves, or candidates vulnerable to automated screening systems.