Twenty-six employees seek to halt Meta's next round of layoffs on July 22, alleging AI software discriminated against disabled and pregnant workers. Meta denies the claims.
Twenty-six former and current Meta employees have sued the company in federal court, alleging it used AI-powered software to disproportionately target workers with disabilities or who were pregnant during mass layoffs.
The plaintiffs are seeking to halt the next round of layoffs, scheduled to begin on July 22, while they pursue arbitration.
The complaint, filed July 13 in Oakland, accuses Meta of using tools such as Metamate and productivity metrics to cut about 10% of its workforce earlier this year. The plaintiffs say the system penalized workers who missed work for medical reasons or to care for family members, violating federal and state discrimination laws.
Meta has denied the allegations, saying people, not AI, made the workforce decisions and that the lawsuit lacks merit.
The case appears to be the first to challenge a major company's use of AI in conducting layoffs.
The next round of layoffs is scheduled to start July 22.
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