Meta Accused of Using AI to Punish Employees on Leave
Twenty-six former Meta employees are suing the tech giant, alleging its AI system unfairly penalized workers on maternity or medical leave, leading to erroneous layoff decisions.
Meta Platforms is facing a lawsuit from 26 former employees who claim the company's AI system unfairly penalized workers on maternity or medical leave, contributing to their dismissals. The complaint, filed in federal court in Oakland, California, alleges that Meta's layoff selection process relied on criteria such as employee activity, code output, AI tool usage, and algorithmically assisted performance rankings.
The plaintiffs contend that employees who took legally protected absences, including medical, pregnancy, or family leave, could not accumulate these metrics at the same rate as colleagues who worked continuously. They argue this disparity led to their inclusion in the approximately 8,000 workers targeted for layoffs.
Meta has denied the allegations. A company spokesperson stated that "these claims lack merit and are not based on facts." The spokesperson emphasized that "workforce management and organizational decisions were and are made by people, not AI."
However, legal experts suggest that human oversight may not absolve an employer of liability if a practice has a disparate impact. "It is unlikely that human review would protect the employer if the practice still has a disparate impact and is unjustified," said Pauline Kim, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis, who studies algorithmic decision-making.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction to halt upcoming layoffs, reportedly scheduled for July 22, as the employees pursue individual discrimination claims in arbitration. This legal action highlights ongoing concerns about the use of AI in employment decisions and its potential impact on employee rights.