26 Former Meta Employees Sue Company Over AI-Driven Layoffs

Meta is facing a federal lawsuit from 26 former employees who allege the company used AI-powered software to select workers for mass layoffs, unfairly targeting those with disabilities, medical conditions, or approved leave.

What the lawsuit claims

The lawsuit, filed in a California federal court, alleges Meta’s internal system unfairly targeted vulnerable employees during its recent layoffs. According to Reuters, citing the plaintiffs, Meta relied heavily on automated performance metrics, including digital productivity tracking and individual AI token usage, when deciding on job cuts.

The plaintiffs argue this kind of automated tracking inherently disadvantaged employees who had to miss work for legitimate medical reasons, effectively penalising

them for taking approved time off.

Background: nearly 8,000 layoffs since May

The lawsuit follows Meta’s broader cost-cutting drive, which saw the company announce plans to cut 10 percent of its global workforce, resulting in close to 8,000 layoffs starting in May.

The 26 plaintiffs filed the lawsuit anonymously and are based across six US states, including California and New York, as well as the District of Columbia. They accuse Meta of violating federal and state labour laws that prohibit discrimination or retaliation against employees who have disabilities, are pregnant, or take approved family and medical leave.

Meta has rejected the allegations. A company spokesperson said the legal claims are without merit, stating: “Workforce management and organizational decisions were and are made by people, not AI,” denying that automated algorithms held final decision-making power over layoffs.

Zuckerberg admits restructuring “miscalculated”

Separately, at an internal town hall last week, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged that the company’s broader restructuring hadn’t delivered the results expected. According to Reuters, Zuckerberg said Meta’s AI agents had not progressed as quickly as anticipated, and that top executives had “miscalculated” the timing of the changes. The restructuring, announced earlier this year, included the roughly 8,000 layoffs alongside reassigning 7,000 staffers to AI-focused teams.

At the same town hall, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth addressed separate concerns around the company’s mouse-tracking software, which had been paused following reports of sensitive data exposure. Bosworth said an internal review found no employee data was used in AI training, adding: “For people who are comfortable, that’s great, they can contribute to this kind of great human survey. To people who are not, it is not an issue.”