Meta Faces Lawsuit Over Alleged AI-Driven Layoff Discrimination
A group of 26 former Meta employees is suing the company over claims that it used AI tools to unfairly target workers on leave during mass layoffs.
According to the lawsuit, Meta allegedly determined which workers to dismiss based on performance data collected by a "constellation" of internal AI tools. The employees contend that the system failed to exclude those on parental or medical leave from its ranking process.
The result, according to the plaintiffs, was that employees who took protected leaves were disproportionately selected for layoff. The lawsuit argues that the AI-driven scoring not only failed to account for protected leaves but effectively penalized employees for exercising their legally protected rights.
The case raises questions about the role of algorithmic decision-making in human resources and whether automated systems can adequately account for legal protections in employment contexts.