Meta used AI to target staff with medical conditions & pregnancies for layoffs, lawsuit alleges

Twenty-six anonymous Meta employees have sued the company in federal court in Oakland, California, alleging it used AI-powered software to disproportionately target workers with disabilities, medical leave histories, and pregnancies during mass layoffs.

The employees are seeking to halt the next round of layoffs, scheduled to begin on Jul 22, while they pursue arbitration.

The plaintiffs, from six states, including California, New York and Washington, DC, accused Meta of using tools such as Metamate and productivity metrics to rank employees when it cut thousands of jobs—about 10% of its workforce—earlier in 2026.

The lawsuit, filed on July 13, said that this disadvantages people who missed work because of medical conditions or to care for family members, violating federal and state discrimination and retaliation laws.

However, Meta has refuted the claims, stating that they lack merit and that people, not AI, made the workforce decisions.

The lawsuit appears to be the first against a major company to challenge the alleged use of AI in conducting layoffs.

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