Meta AI is under legal investigation for accusations from a group of employees that the firm used AI-powered workplace tools that allegedly discriminated against workers on medical, parental or family leave during recent layoffs. The California lawsuit says the internal systems ranked employees on productivity metrics that did not consider protected absences.
The complaint was filed by 26 current and former Meta employees, among some 8,000 workers — or about 10% of the company’s workforce — laid off earlier this year.
Meta AI systems ranked employees based on a combination of productivity metrics, AI token usage, and internal performance rankings, the lawsuit says. The complaint, filed in federal court in Oakland, Calif., claims these metrics played a big part when the company laid off thousands of workers earlier this year.
That meant workers on approved medical or family leave – who obviously logged lower activity – were allegedly being penalized and scored lower, making them more likely to be laid off.
The complaint references tools such as Meta’s internal AI assistant Metamate, AI dashboards, and activity-monitoring systems. It argues these tools did not properly adjust for legally protected leave, effectively penalizing affected employees.
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The lawsuit alleges violations of several laws, including:
- Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
- Pregnancy Discrimination Act
- California employment laws
- Anti-retaliation protections
Many plaintiffs allege they were fired while on authorized medical, parental or disability leave, or just before major life events like childbirth, considering that they are protected under federal and state employment laws.
The workers are trying to prevent their firings. They say losing their jobs could have dire consequences, including losing their health insurance and financial benefits. Meta has denied the allegations. A company spokesman said:
“Workforce management and organizational decisions were and are made by people, not AI.”
The case also raises broader questions about the use of Meta AI and similar technologies to make decisions in the workplace. Experts warn that artificial intelligence systems that use productivity data could unintentionally punish employees on protected leave.
Meta had already cut about 8,000 people, or roughly 10% of its global workforce, in May, and further layoffs were expected later in the year, Reuters reported. But CEO Mark Zuckerberg has since said he does not expect any more company-wide layoffs this year.
Legal analysts say the lawsuit could test how existing discrimination laws apply when Meta AI tools influence hiring decisions. The suit alleges that Meta used a number of internal systems powered by AI to evaluate and rank employees for firing.
These reportedly included a large language model assistant called “Metamate”; a “second brain” built by an employee to track communications and documents; and a productivity scoring system that analyzed keystrokes, screen activity, emails and browser history. The findings could influence how companies design and regulate Meta AI-powered HR systems.
