Meta sued by 26 employees who say its AI systems targeted workers on medical leave for layoffs

Twenty-six current and former Meta employees have filed a federal lawsuit accusing the company of using AI-powered systems that disproportionately targeted workers with disabilities or who had taken medical leave when selecting people for mass layoffs. The suit, filed Monday in Oakland, California, alleges that Meta relied on productivity metrics and AI token usage data when it cut roughly 8,000 jobs beginning on May 20, effectively penalising employees who had missed work for protected reasons. It appears to be the first lawsuit against a major US technology company to challenge the use of AI in conducting layoffs.

The 71-page complaint names a constellation of internal AI systems that the plaintiffs say Meta used to score, rank, and select employees for the termination list. Those included Metamate, a large language model assistant, along with employee-trained “second brain” agents, keystroke and activity monitoring data, AI token usage dashboards, and algorithmically assisted performance ranking. The plaintiffs argue that because the system relied on output metrics, it structurally disadvantaged anyone who had taken time away from work and therefore had fewer data points to measure.

All 26 plaintiffs filed anonymously and say they share one thing in common: each took, requested, or was approved for protected leave within the past 24 months. They come from six states including California, New York, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Washington, plus the District of Columbia. Their claims include violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, and state-level leave protections.

The lawsuit also alleges that Meta deployed a monitoring program earlier in 2026 that captured keystrokes, screen content, mouse activity, browser history, messages, emails, and location data from company-issued devices. The program was announced through what the complaint describes as a low-visibility internal post by an engineer rather than a senior leader, with no consent prompt on at least some teams. Data from the monitoring program was used to build AI tools, including by a new engineering organisation to which employees were reassigned on a mandatory basis, according to the complaint.

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The plaintiffs are seeking a preliminary injunction to block their terminations, which are set to take effect on July 22, while they pursue individual claims in arbitration. They also allege that Meta failed to test its AI systems for bias in violation of recently adopted California and New York City laws that regulate AI in employment decisions. Judge William Orrick in the Northern District of California has been assigned to the case.

A Meta spokesperson said the claims lack merit, stating that workforce management and organisational decisions were and are made by people, not AI. The lawsuit arrives as courts and regulators around the world are grappling with how existing employment law applies when companies use algorithmic systems to make or inform decisions about who stays and who goes.