A group of 26 Meta employees has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the company used artificial intelligence systems to select workers for layoffs, disproportionately impacting those on protected medical or parental leave. The plaintiffs, who are among the approximately 8,000 employees Meta announced it would cut in May, claim the company relied on automated metrics that failed to account for time spent away from work. The lawsuit, filed in Oakland, California, argues that these AI-driven systems penalized employees for exercising their legal rights to leave.
According to the complaint, Meta utilized a variety of internal tools to rank and score employees, including keystroke and activity-monitoring data, AI token-usage dashboards, and algorithmically assisted performance rankings. The plaintiffs contend that these metrics, by design, could not be accumulated by workers who were on leave or whose output was reduced due to a disability. Because the system did not pause to allow for an individualized review, the lawsuit alleges that these employees were unfairly flagged for termination.
Each of the 26 anonymous plaintiffs had either taken protected leave or requested a reasonable accommodation for a disability. While they have been notified of their layoffs, they remain employed by Meta, with their official separations scheduled to begin on July 22. The lawsuit seeks a preliminary injunction to preserve their employment status while their claims are resolved through arbitration.
Meta has denied the allegations, stating that the claims lack merit. A company spokesperson emphasized that workforce management and organizational decisions at the firm are made by people, not by artificial intelligence. As the case moves forward, it highlights the growing tension between the adoption of advanced workplace technologies and the legal protections afforded to employees regarding leave and disability accommodations.