Meta Employees Sue Over AI Use in Layoffs; Company Says Claims Lack Merit

Twenty-six current and former Meta employees filed a lawsuit against the company in federal court in Northern California on Monday. The complaint alleges that Meta used internal AI tools to score and rank employees ahead of its May layoffs of about 8,000 workers, penalizing those who took medical, parental or disability leave.

The suit claims Meta relied on tools including its chatbot Metamate, usage dashboards, second-brain agents and activity-monitoring data.

Employees were ranked in categories such as AI Native, AI First and AI Enabled, with scores dropping during periods of protected leave. Several plaintiffs were selected for layoffs while on approved leave or shortly after returning. Meta had installed software on many U.S.

Employees' computers to capture keystrokes and mouse movements for AI training data. That program was paused in June following an internal leak. The company introduced a performance system called Checkpoint this year that emphasized outcomes and AI adoption.

The plaintiffs, who worked across several states and chose to remain anonymous, ask the court to pause their terminations effective July 22 while claims proceed in arbitration. They also seek an independent audit of the layoff process and recalculation of selections without using protected leave against workers. A Meta spokesperson said the claims lack merit and are not based on facts.

The spokesperson added that workforce management and organizational decisions were and are made by people, not AI. One engineer alleged a manager attributed a lower rating to time lost from an injury. Another employee reported a manager warning that medically approved leave would lead to nomination for layoffs.