Meta Faces Lawsuit Alleging AI Used for Biased Layoffs
A group of 26 former Meta employees is suing the company, claiming its AI tools unfairly targeted workers on protected leave for recent layoffs. The lawsuit alleges performance data used by AI did not account for employees on parental or medical leave.
Meta Platforms Inc. is facing a lawsuit filed by 26 former employees who allege the company’s artificial intelligence system was used to unfairly target workers for layoffs while they were on protected leave.
The employees claim the AI systems, referred to as a "constellation" of internal tools, ranked workers based on performance data. However, the suit contends that the AI did not account for or exclude individuals who were on parental or medical leave from its evaluation process.
According to the lawsuit, this resulted in employees on protected leave being disproportionately selected for termination. The plaintiffs argue that the AI system effectively penalized them for taking time off for reasons protected by law, without considering their absence as a factor.
The legal action seeks to hold Meta accountable for what the former employees describe as discriminatory practices in its workforce reduction efforts. Meta has not yet publicly responded to the allegations detailed in the lawsuit.