By Daniel Wiessner
July 14 (Reuters) – Twenty-six former employees of Meta Platforms have filed a lawsuit against the tech company, accusing it of using AI-powered software that disproportionately targeted people with disabilities or who took medical leave in selecting people for mass layoffs.
The lawsuit, filed in Oakland, California, federal court late Monday, says that the company relied on factors such as productivity and AI token usage when it began slashing thousands of jobs earlier this year, disadvantaging people who missed work because of medical conditions.
Meta earlier this year said it planned to lay off 10% of its global workforce, or nearly 8,000 people, beginning in May, with more job cuts coming later.
The 26 plaintiffs, who filed the lawsuit anonymously, are accusing Meta of violating federal and state laws that ban discrimination or retaliation against workers who have disabilities, take medical leave or are pregnant. The plaintiffs come from six states, including California and New York plus the District of Columbia.
A Meta spokesperson on Tuesday said the claims lack merit.
“Workforce management and organizational decisions were and are made by people, not AI,” the spokesperson said.
(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Alexia Garamfalvi and Mark Porter)
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