Key facts
- A U.S. judge rejected a bid by 26 Meta employees to block layoffs.
- The employees claim Meta's AI tools unfairly targeted them for job cuts due to disabilities or medical leave.
- The judge ruled that losing their jobs did not constitute 'irreparable harm' for an emergency order.
- Meta is proceeding with layoffs, which began on July 22.
- The company denies wrongdoing and states human decisions were involved in layoff selections.
A U.S. judge has refused to block Meta Platforms from laying off 26 employees who claim the company used artificial intelligence tools to unfairly target them for job cuts due to disabilities or medical leave. U.S. District Judge William Orrick stated that the workers could not demonstrate the 'irreparable harm' necessary to halt the layoffs, which were scheduled to begin on July 22.
The employees, who filed the lawsuit anonymously, allege that Meta's AI systems, including a large language model assistant named 'Metamate' and tools that tracked productivity, unfairly penalized individuals who took time off for medical reasons or to care for family. They also claim performance reviews were influenced by AI adoption scores.
Meta has denied wrongdoing, asserting that human decisions were ultimately made regarding the layoffs and that the company is doubling down on AI investments. The company had previously notified nearly 8,000 employees, about 10% of its global workforce, of impending job cuts in May.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs argued that losing their jobs would also mean losing valuable stock options and health insurance, which they stated could not be easily replaced. Meta's legal team countered that these are typical damages that could be recouped if the plaintiffs prevail in arbitration, and that workers were only losing employer-subsidized insurance, not all coverage.