Twenty-six Meta employees have filed a lawsuit accusing the tech giant of using AI-based software that disproportionately selected people with disabilities or those taking sick leave for dismissal during mass layoffs.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Oakland, California, on Monday, alleges that the company relied on factors such as productivity and the use of AI tokens during its massive job cuts earlier this year, putting workers who were absent from work due to health issues or caring for family members at a disadvantage, Reuters reported .
The plaintiffs, who were notified in May that their positions would be eliminated effective July 22, are currently seeking a preliminary injunction that would temporarily bar Meta from completing the layoff process while their claims are being heard in private arbitration.
In May, Meta cut 10% of its global workforce, or nearly 8,000 people, and had planned further layoffs later this year. However, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has since said he no longer expects large-scale cuts at the company this year.
The 26 plaintiffs, who filed the lawsuit anonymously, accuse Meta of violating federal and state laws that prohibit discrimination or harassment of employees based on disability, medical leave, or pregnancy. They also allege that Meta failed to test its AI systems for bias, a violation of recently passed California and New York laws.
The plaintiffs reside in six different states (including California and New York) and the District of Columbia.
The lawsuit alleges that Meta used several internal AI tools to screen candidates for dismissal and blacklist them. In particular, it is a large language assistant model called Metamate, a “second brain” system (trained by employees themselves to monitor work chats and documents), as well as performance scores. The latter were calculated based on total surveillance: algorithms recorded every keystroke, scanned screens, and read employees’ emails and browser history.
On Tuesday, a Meta spokesman said the allegations were baseless.
"Personnel and organizational decisions were and are made by people, not artificial intelligence," the spokesman noted.
This lawsuit appears to be the first precedent against a major American business challenging the alleged use of AI in the process of firing employees.
