Former employees sue Meta over alleged use of biased AI systems during layoffs

Twenty-six former Meta employees are suing the company, alleging it used biased artificial intelligence systems during layoffs that "disproportionately selected" employees on medical leave as candidates for termination. The lawsuit follows Meta's May layoffs, which cut about 8,000 jobs to offset investments in AI and data center infrastructure.

According to the complaint, Meta employed "a constellation of artificial intelligence systems" to determine which employees to let go. These included an internal AI assistant called "Metamate," employee-trained "second brain" agents, AI-token usage dashboards, and keystroke- and activity-monitoring data. The alleged goal was to rank employees based on performance, productivity, "AI-nativeness," and token usage, but the system failed to account for employees on family or medical leave or those with disabilities affecting output, the lawsuit claims.

Each plaintiff had taken, requested, or received approval for protected leave within 24 months before being laid off. Laws such as the Family and Medical Leave Act and California's Family Rights Act prohibit considering protected leave in employment decisions. The plaintiffs seek to block Meta from completing layoffs pending an independent audit of the algorithm-assisted selection process. Meta responded that the lawsuit lacks merit, stating, "Workforce management and organizational decisions were and are made by people, not AI." Due to Meta's employment contract, the plaintiffs also intend to pursue arbitration.