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Meta laid off thousands of employees to become an “AI-first company” in May, and some of those former employees now allege that Meta used AI to illegally fire them. Twenty-six former Meta employees have I filed a lawsuit Alleging that Meta’s termination process was heavily powered by artificial intelligence and violated labor protection laws.
dead – Laying off 10% of its workforceAbout 8,000 workers, two months ago. The lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Oakland, California, alleges that Meta used algorithmic and artificial intelligence tools to monitor specific “productivity metrics” of employees, and flagged low performers as potential targets for layoffs.
However, many of those reported employees either agreed to accommodations or took legally protected leave in the past two years due to pregnancy, medical reasons or death, according to the lawsuit.
“META did not compile the termination list through the considered judgment of managers who know the business,” the complaint alleges. “Instead, Meta used a constellation of internal AI systems…to record, classify, and select employees for inclusion in the roster.”
The result was that “employees who received protected leave were disproportionately selected for layoff,” the lawsuit alleges.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is reshaping the company to be “AI first.”
Under California and federal employment protection laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act, employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who require disability accommodations or use protected leave.
The complaint alleges that Meta used technology and artificial intelligence systems to monitor and select which employees to fire. These tools included Metamate, an in-house AI assistant; Agents trained by employees and designed using employee digital communications; And algorithmic productivity scores that take into account employees’ keystroke logs, browser history, and screen content. Prosecutors claim that the use of artificial intelligence code, which is monitored on an internal leaderboard, was also taken into account.
The former employees claim that because they did not generate enough data for Meta’s internal monitoring systems, their results declined. They say this made the AI more likely to report them to management when it came time to lay off workers, despite receiving average and above-average ratings from managers.
“Several other employees noticed that their grades dropped significantly upon their return from vacation and protected leave,” the complaint alleges, “and that Meta made no effort to ‘pause’ a person’s enrollment while away from work based on excused, even legally protected, absences.”
A Meta spokesperson told CNET that these claims are “not based on facts” and that “people, not AI,” are responsible for workforce and organizational decisions.
It has been reported In April That Meta was using AI to monitor its employees, including the use of AI tokens and keystroke logs. employees She reportedly felt spied onAnd dead Reduce it But it did not reverse this policy in June.
This case highlights the increasing role of artificial intelligence in management decisions, including hiring, performance reviews, and firings. But artificial intelligence and algorithm-based systems They have a history of replicating institutional biases Against workers with disabilities, along with minorities. Modern Harvard University study Large racial disparities have been found in AI-based job applicant screening programs, resulting in fewer black and Asian candidates being recommended for interviews, for example.
