Meta Faces Landmark Lawsuit Over AI-Driven Layoffs Targeting Disabled Employees

A group of 26 current and former Meta employees filed a federal lawsuit on July 13, 2026, alleging that the company used artificial intelligence systems to select workers for layoffs — and that those systems systematically penalized employees with disabilities, those on medical leave, and pregnant workers.

The complaint, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, describes a "constellation of internal artificial-intelligence systems" that Meta allegedly used to score, rank, and select employees for termination. These systems include a tool called "Metamate," employee-trained AI agents, keystroke and activity monitoring data, AI token usage dashboards, and algorithmically assisted performance rankings. Employees were categorized into tiers such as "AI Native," "AI First," and "AI Enabled" based on how much they used Meta's own AI tools.

According to the lawsuit, these metrics could not be accumulated by employees on protected medical or family leave. The result was that workers who exercised their legal right to leave were disproportionately flagged for termination. One plaintiff was informed she was being laid off the day before her water broke — just before giving birth. Others were on approved parental leave, paternity leave, or working under disability accommodations when they were selected.

Meta has denied the allegations, stating that "workforce management and organizational decisions were and are made by people, not AI." The layoffs, part of a reduction of approximately 8,000 employees announced in May 2026, are scheduled to begin on July 22. The plaintiffs are seeking a preliminary injunction to block the terminations and a recalculation of employee scores that accounts for protected leave.

The case is believed to be the first lawsuit against a major US company challenging the alleged use of AI in conducting layoffs, and it raises fundamental questions about accountability when algorithmic systems make employment decisions that affect people's livelihoods.