Meta Faces Lawsuit Over Alleged Discriminatory AI Layoff Practices

A lawsuit filed in the Northern District Court of California accuses Meta of using internal AI systems to decide layoffs that disproportionately affected employees on medical or parental leave and those with disabilities, during a round that cut about 8,000 workers, or 10% of its global workforce. The complaint claims Meta’s AI tools—such as the Metamate language model, productivity metrics based on keystrokes and email activity, and AI‑assisted performance reviews—failed to account for legally protected absences, leading to higher layoff risk for vulnerable workers. Meta denies the allegations, asserting that human oversight remains central to its decisions, while the plaintiffs seek a preliminary injunction to stop the July 22 layoffs and argue that temporary relief is exempt from arbitration clauses. The case follows a prior lawsuit alleging age discrimination in a February 2025 layoff and raises broader questions about transparency, fairness, and legal compliance when companies rely on algorithmic systems for high‑stakes HR decisions, potentially setting a precedent for how tech giants must address bias in AI‑driven workforce management.

(Source：Aitechtrend)