Meta Sued Over AI-Driven Layoffs Targeting Employees on Leave

26 former Meta employees sue, alleging AI-driven layoffs targeted workers on medical and parental leave.

A group of 26 former Meta employees has filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging that Meta used AI tools to unfairly target workers on medical and parental leave for layoffs. The lawsuit claims that Meta's internal AI tools, including an AI assistant called Metamate and employee-trained AI agents, were used to score, rank, and select employees for termination lists. These tools allegedly collected performance data but failed to exclude individuals on protected leave, leading to a disproportionate selection of these employees for dismissal.

The layoffs in question occurred in May as part of Meta's plan to reduce its staff by 10 percent, impacting approximately 8,000 workers. The former employees contend that the AI ranking system effectively penalized them for exercising their legal rights to protected leaves. Meta spokesperson Tracy Clayton has denied these claims, stating that "Workforce management and organizational decisions were and are made by people, not AI."

The lawsuit accuses Meta of violating federal and state laws that prohibit employers from terminating workers for taking protected leave. This legal action highlights concerns about the potential for AI tools to introduce bias into human resources processes, particularly in sensitive areas like performance evaluation and layoffs.

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