META Workers File Lawsuit Over AI Based Redundancy Selection Process

Meta Platforms Inc is facing legal action from 26 employees who claim the technology giant employed artificial intelligence systems and automated performance metrics to identify workers for redundancy in a manner that allegedly discriminated against those on protected leave. The plaintiffs contend that the selection process disproportionately affected employees who had taken medical, parental or family leave under statutory protections.

The lawsuit, lodged in federal court in Oakland, California, asserts that Meta utilised AI-assisted performance rankings, workplace activity monitoring data and internal dashboards tracking AI token usage to assess employees during a substantial workforce reduction exercise. The claimants argue that these systems failed to accommodate periods during which workers were unable to generate standard productivity metrics whilst on approved leave.

According to the complaint, Meta combined performance scores, productivity data and internal measurements of AI adoption to rank employees for termination. The plaintiffs maintain that workers on disability, maternity or other protected leave were effectively disadvantaged because such absences reduced the data available to the company’s evaluation mechanisms.

The case concerns Meta’s planned workforce reductions affecting approximately 8,000 employees announced earlier this year. The plaintiffs allege the company deployed automated systems to identify employees for dismissal rather than relying exclusively on managerial assessments of individual performance.

The lawsuit includes claims from workers who were on approved leave when notified of their redundancies. One plaintiff, a scientist, alleges she received termination notice shortly before childbirth, whilst another engineer claims his rating was downgraded following time off for injury. A manager has also alleged he was dismissed whilst on medical leave.

The employees are seeking a court order to suspend the planned terminations, scheduled to commence on 22 July, and are requesting an independent audit of Meta’s AI tools. They are also pursuing potential damages, including lost remuneration, equity and benefits.

Meta has rejected the allegations, stating that the lawsuit’s claims lack merit and emphasising that workforce and organisational decisions are made by personnel rather than AI systems.

The plaintiffs have also raised concerns regarding Meta’s internal employee monitoring programme, which they claim collected workplace activity data encompassing device usage and productivity-related metrics. Meta previously suspended the initiative following employee criticism and a petition signed by more than 1,600 workers citing privacy concerns.

Meta shares traded up 4 per cent at 684 dollars on Wednesday afternoon.