The plaintiffs say that the company’s own AI-powered algorithms failed to account for allowed medical absences, resulting in worse performance ratings that were then utilized in redundancy decisions.
Meta has being sued for allegedly unjust layoffs of its employees. According to a Firstpost report, a group of 26 current and former employees claimed that AI-based workplace monitoring tools were used to select employees for layoff, with claims that it disproportionately affected those with disabilities and those who had taken legally protected medical leave.
Employees in management, engineering, science, and research filed the case in federal court in Oakland, California, on Monday. The plaintiffs allege that the company’s own AI-powered algorithms failed to account for allowed medical absences, resulting in poorer performance ratings that were ultimately utilized in redundancy decisions.
According to the lawsuit, the firm deployed a mix of AI systems and digital activity measures, such as an internal bot dubbed ‘Metamate’, AI assistants educated on staff expertise, AI use dashboards, and workplace activity data including keystrokes and computer usage habits.
According to the employees, these systems judged productivity primarily through digital activity and failed to notice that some workers were on permitted medical or disability leave. As a result, they say that employees who took legally protected leave got worse performance ratings and were more susceptible to the company’s reorganization.
The complaint also claims that the corporation produced termination rankings using information such as keyboard activity, internet history, emails, and screen content. The plaintiffs allege that while being protected by employment law, employees who worked fewer hours due to authorized leave seemed to be less productive than colleagues.
Employees say that these activities violated federal and state statutes that prohibit discrimination or retribution based on disability, pregnancy, or medical leave. They also claim that Meta failed to appropriately test its AI-powered systems for prejudice, potentially breaking newer AI-related legislation in California and New York City.
The plaintiffs have requested the court to freeze the contested layoffs until their individual employment problems are resolved through arbitration.
Meta disputed that AI influenced worker decisions. According to a corporate spokeswoman, “Workforce management and organizational decisions were and are made by people, not AI.” Reuters first reported details of the lawsuit.
The lawsuit follows one of Meta’s biggest rounds of job layoffs earlier this year, when the firm lost roughly 8,000 jobs, or over 10% of its worldwide workforce, while reassigning approximately 7,000 people to AI-related tasks as part of CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s AI agenda.
Meta has also forecast capital expenditures of $125 billion to $145 billion this year, with the majority of the funds going toward developing data centers and AI technology.
According to the newspaper, the complaint comes as technology businesses increasingly utilize artificial intelligence (AI) to evaluate employee performance and make labor choices, raising concerns about transparency, bias, and accountability in automated employment systems.
