Meta sued for alleged discriminatory AI-assisted layoffs
A group of 26 current and former Meta employees filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Northern District of California alleging Meta used internal AI systems in its May layoff round in a way that discriminated against workers on protected leave and with disabilities. The complaint says the company's 'constellation of internal artificial-intelligence systems' relied on inputs — including performance ratings, calibration scores, productivity metrics, 'AI-native' ratings, and token consumption — that disadvantage employees who cannot accumulate those signals while on approved absences. Plaintiffs seek a preliminary injunction to maintain their employment pending an independent audit and arbitration. Meta called the claims meritless and said workforce decisions were made by people. The story references a recent related court ruling allowing a separate Workday AI hiring case to proceed.
- •26 unnamed current and former Meta employees filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Northern District of California alleging discriminatory use of AI in layoffs.
- •Plaintiffs say Meta's internal AI systems failed to account for approved absences and used metrics (e.g., token consumption, AI-native ratings) that penalized employees on protected leave.
- •The plaintiffs were among the roughly 10% of Meta's workforce cut in the company's May 2026 layoff round.