26 Meta employees sue, alleging AI layoff systems targeted workers on protected leave

• A group of 26 Meta employees has sued the company in federal court, alleging that AI-driven layoff selection disproportionately targeted workers on protected medical, parental, or family leave.
• The suit claims Meta used internal AI systems, keystroke activity monitoring, AI token-usage dashboards, and algorithmically assisted performance rankings to determine who would be laid off.
• Employees on protected leave cannot accumulate the scores and ratings those systems rely on, and Meta did not pause the automated process for the individualized, leave-neutral review required by law, according to the lawsuit.
• Each of the 26 anonymous employees took protected leave or received reasonable accommodations for a disability; all remain employed but their separations are set to begin on July 22.
• The workers are among the roughly 8,000 employees — about 10% of the company’s workforce — that Meta said in May it would lay off.

Workers remain employed, but separations set to begin July 22

A group of 26 Meta employees filed a lawsuit late Monday in federal court in Oakland, California, alleging that the company used artificial intelligence systems to select people for layoffs in a way that disproportionately targeted those on medical, parental, or family leave. The workers, who remain employed, are among the 8,000 employees — about 10% of Meta’s workforce — the company announced it would lay off in May.

The lawsuit, brought by anonymous employees, claims that Meta relied on internal AI systems, keystroke and activity-monitoring data, AI token-usage dashboards, and algorithmically assisted performance rankings to decide who would be let go. According to the suit, many of those scores and ratings “by design, cannot be accumulated by an employee who is on protected medical or family leave, or whose output is reduced by a disability.”

The workers allege that Meta did not account for their protected leave when weighing the scores and “did not pause the system for the individualized, leave- and accommodation-neutral review that the law requires.” As a result, people on protected leave were disproportionately chosen for layoffs, the lawsuit says.

Each of the 26 employees took protected leave or requested or received a reasonable accommodation for a disability, according to the complaint. They have been notified of their layoffs, but their separations are scheduled to begin July 22.

MSI previously reported in May that Meta was among at least six major companies that had disclosed plans to shed more than 20,000 jobs this year, with several explicitly pointing to AI as a driver. The outlet also reported in March that employees and economists say it can be difficult to determine how much AI is the real driver of layoffs versus the explanation companies choose to share.