Meta used artificial intelligence to identify employees who had taken leave — including medical, parental and bereavement leave — and flagged them for inclusion in a round of layoffs, according to allegations in a lawsuit filed by former workers that raises troubling questions about the use of AI in human resources decisions.
The lawsuit, filed in a California federal court, claims that Meta's internal AI systems were programmed to identify employees whose leave patterns suggested they were not fully engaged with the company. Those employees were then disproportionately selected for termination during a restructuring that saw approximately 10,000 jobs eliminated.
The plaintiffs, three former Meta employees who had taken various forms of protected leave in the months before they were laid off, argue that the practice constitutes discrimination and violates both California state law and federal employment protections. They are seeking class-action status on behalf of all Meta employees who took leave and were subsequently terminated.
Meta has denied the allegations, describing them as "without merit" and saying that its layoff decisions were based on performance, business needs and role elimination, not on leave status. The company said it would vigorously defend itself against the claims.
The case is being watched closely by employment lawyers and privacy advocates because it tests the boundaries of what companies can do with AI-powered workforce analytics. The use of AI to make or inform employment decisions is subject to increasing regulation, including New York City's law requiring bias audits of AI hiring tools and the EU's AI Act, which classifies employment-related AI as high-risk and subject to strict requirements.
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