Meta’s recent AI-driven layoffs impacting 8,000 employees have raised concerns, particularly targeting those with disabilities and individuals on protected medical and family leave. Currently, 26 affected employees have filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
According to the lawsuit, “Meta did not compile the layoff list through the judicious selection of managers familiar with individual performances. Instead, the company employed a suite of internal AI systems, including one known as ‘Metamate,’ an employee-trained ‘second brain’ agent, alongside keystroke monitoring, activity tracking data, an AI token usage dashboard, and algorithm-driven performance evaluations to score and rank potential layoffs.”
Employees were assessed based on their utilization of Meta’s AI tools, with categories like ‘AI Native,’ ‘AI First,’ and ‘AI Ready’ used to classify their engagement with these technologies. The complaint suggests these criteria unfairly disadvantage those on medical leave or with disabilities.
This lawsuit marks a significant legal challenge, being “the first lawsuit against a major U.S. corporation addressing the purported use of AI in executing layoffs,” as reported by Reuters. The plaintiffs argue that Meta’s monitoring systems failed to account for necessary considerations regarding disability or protected leave.
The complaint details how these monitoring systems utilized inputs such as performance reviews, adjustment scores, productivity metrics, and ‘AI native’ ratings, which disproportionately impact employees unable to utilize AI tools due to medical or familial obligations.
Meta’s Response: Humans, Not AI, Made Job Cut Decisions
In response to the allegations, Mehta asserts that decisions regarding layoffs were made by humans. “These claims are unsubstantiated and lack factual basis. Employee management and organizational decisions have always been made by people, not AI,” Mehta stated in a correspondence with Ars. No further comments on the lawsuit were provided.
Source: arstechnica.com