A total of 26 former Meta employees sued the company, accusing its artificial intelligence system of determining which workers were on the layoff list. The lawsuit was filed on Monday in the United States District Court in Oakland, California. The plaintiffs assessed that the process was detrimental to workers who took medical leave, maternity leave, bereavement leave, or needed work adjustments due to disability. Meta has previously cut around 10 percent of its workforce or around 8,000 people. According to the lawsuit, Meta uses algorithmic and AI tools to monitor employee productivity, and workers with low scores are then more easily included in the layoff list. The lawsuit alleges that workers who took protected leave were disproportionately selected for termination. The former employees claimed their scores dropped because during leave they did not produce enough data for Meta's monitoring system. The system includes Metamate, Meta's internal AI assistant, an AI agent trained using each employee's digital communications, as well as productivity scores based on keystroke records, internet browsing history, and screen content. Meta denied the allegations, with a company spokesperson stating the allegations were "not based on facts" and that decisions on staffing and organization are made by humans, not AI.