Meta Used AI to Illegally Fire Pregnant and Disabled People, Lawsuit Alleges
Former Meta employees allege the company penalized them for taking medical leave.
3 min read
Meta laid off thousands of employees to become an "AI-first company" in May, and some of those former employees are now alleging that Meta used AI to illegally fire them. Twenty-six former Meta employees have filed a lawsuit alleging that Meta's termination process was heavily aided by AI and violated worker protection laws.
Meta laid off 10% of its workforce, around 8,000 workers, two months ago. The lawsuit, filed on Monday in a US District Court in Oakland, California, alleges that Meta used algorithmic and AI tools to monitor specific employee "productivity metrics," and low performers were flagged as likely targets for layoffs.
However, many of those flagged employees had either approved accommodations or had taken legally protected leave in the past two years for pregnancy, medical reasons or bereavement, according to the lawsuit.
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