Dozens of Meta employees have filed a lawsuit alleging the company used artificial intelligence tools to target workers for mass layoffs, specifically those who had taken protected leave such as maternity or disability leave. The lawsuit, submitted Monday in the northern district of California federal court, challenges Meta's workforce reduction of approximately 8,000 employees earlier this year.
AI Systems Allegedly Used to Score Workers
The 71-page complaint claims Meta employed a "constellation of internal artificial intelligence systems," including AI performance ratings and keystroke- and activity-monitoring data, to determine which employees to lay off. The 26 plaintiffs argue that these systems scored and ranked employees without meaningful managerial input. "Meta did not assemble the termination list through the considered judgment of managers who knew the work," the complaint states.
The plaintiffs seek a preliminary court ruling to halt the layoffs while pursuing their claims, along with potential remedies such as reinstatement, back pay, lost equity, benefits, and other damages.
Protected Leave Penalized by AI Metrics
The lawsuit asserts that Meta's AI tools gather data on performance rankings, productivity, and other metrics that are often unavailable or reduced when workers are on medical or family leave. For employees with disabilities, these metrics may be lower. "The result was that employees who took protected leaves were disproportionately selected for layoff," the complaint reads, noting that the scoring system penalized workers for exercising legal rights.
Specific examples include a scientist who was on approved pre-birth pregnancy leave and was notified of her layoff just two days before giving birth. Another plaintiff, an engineer, received a "lowered rating" due to time off for an injury. A manager on medical leave was terminated 16 days into his leave.
Meta Disputes Allegations
A Meta spokesperson denied the claims, stating, "These claims lack merit and are not based on facts. Workforce management and organizational decisions were and are made by people, not AI." However, Meta introduced its AI employee-monitoring program earlier this year, designed to capture keystrokes, mouse activity, browser history, messages, emails, and location data on company devices. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the program aimed to train AI systems on employee behaviors, noting that "the average intelligence of the people who are at this company is significantly higher than the average set of people that you can get to do tasks."
Lack of Employee Consent
The lawsuit claims Meta launched the monitoring program without proper employee buy-in, informing staff through a "low-visibility internal post" by an engineer rather than a senior leader. On some teams, employees received no consent prompt and initially had no opt-out option. Employee backlash led Zuckerberg to pause the program in June after over 1,600 employees signed a petition citing privacy violations.
Call for Independent Audit
Plaintiffs' lawyers have asked the court to order an independent audit of Meta's AI tools to clarify why the 26 workers on leave or with disability accommodations were let go. "Meta deliberately kept the mechanics of its selection process secret from its employees," the lawyers stated. The plaintiffs remain employed until July 22, when terminations are set to begin. The attorneys seek to keep plaintiffs anonymous due to retaliation concerns and to preserve their employment status pending arbitration. "Once these separations are final, the harms are irreversible," the lawyers warned, citing loss of health coverage, leave rights, unvested equity, and immigration consequences.
