Home / Business and Economy / Meta Sued Over AI Layoffs Targeting Workers on Leave
Meta Sued Over AI Layoffs Targeting Workers on Leave
14 Jul
Summary
- 26 former Meta employees claim AI tools unfairly targeted them for layoffs.
- The lawsuit alleges workers on parental or medical leave were penalized.
- Meta denies the claims, stating human decisions, not AI, drove layoffs.
Twenty-six former Meta employees have initiated a lawsuit against the company, asserting that AI tools were utilized to unfairly target individuals on approved leave during recent layoffs. The employees contend that Meta's internal AI systems, including a tool named Metamate, were used to score and rank employees for termination.
The core of the accusation is that these AI systems did not account for employees taking protected leaves, such as parental or medical leave. This resulted in individuals on leave being disproportionately selected for dismissal, effectively penalizing them for exercising their legal rights.
These layoffs took place in May, as part of Meta's broader initiative to cut its workforce by approximately 10 percent, totaling around 8,000 employees. The lawsuit claims Meta violated federal and state laws prohibiting the termination of employees for taking protected leave.
A Meta spokesperson has refuted the claims, stating they lack merit and are not factually based. The company insists that all workforce management and organizational decisions were and continue to be made by human personnel, not by AI.
