Twenty-six current and former Meta employees have filed a lawsuit accusing the company of using AI-assisted workplace tools that allegedly unfairly targeted workers with disabilities or those who had taken medical leave during recent layoffs.
Filed Monday in federal court in Oakland, California, the lawsuit claims Meta relied on AI-generated productivity metrics and factors such as AI tool usage when selecting employees for job cuts earlier this year. The plaintiffs argue this placed workers who missed time because of illness, pregnancy, or caregiving responsibilities at a disadvantage.
The employees, who were informed in May that their positions would be eliminated beginning July 22, are asking the court to temporarily block the layoffs while they pursue their claims through private arbitration.
Meta rejected the allegations. "Workforce management and organizational decisions were and are made by people, not AI," a company spokesperson said.
The lawsuit is believed to be the first in the United States to challenge a major company's alleged use of AI in making layoff decisions.
The plaintiffs claim Meta violated federal and state anti-discrimination laws protecting employees with disabilities, those on medical leave, and pregnant workers. They also allege the company failed to test its AI systems for bias, as required under newer California and New York City regulations.
According to the complaint, Meta used several internal AI-assisted tools to evaluate and rank employees, including its Metamate large language model assistant, an employee-built knowledge system known as a "second brain," and productivity scores generated from workplace activity such as keystrokes, screen content, emails, and browser history.