How to navigate a job market transformed by AI
Entry-level jobs that were once a gateway to upward mobility are rapidly disappearing. How can applicants prove their worth to hiring managers?
A lawsuit filed against Meta Platforms accuses the tech giant of using AI-powered software to target employees with disabilities and those on medical leave due to layoffs.
Legal experts say the case, likely the first against a major U.S. company, challenges the growing use of AI to aid hiring, promotion, performance and firing decisions.
A lawsuit filed this month in federal court in Oakland, California, alleges that Meta, which cut thousands of jobs this year, used an AI-assisted system to score and rank employees on factors such as productivity, harming employees who took time off work to get sick or care for family members.
The 26 anonymous plaintiffs in six states were notified in May that they would be terminated on July 22nd. They argue that the company violates federal and state anti-discrimination laws that protect workers with disabilities, workers on medical leave and pregnant women, and are seeking a preliminary judgment blocking Meta from carrying out the layoffs until they can pursue their claims in private arbitration.
Mehta denied that the layoffs were carried out by AI.
“These claims are baseless and not based on fact,” the company said in a statement. “Employee management and organizational decisions have been made by humans, not AI.”
Artificial intelligence is playing a growing role in who gets hired. The question now is how big a role that will play in who gets fired.
Employers are increasingly using AI to screen resumes, rank job applicants, and handle preliminary interviews. These automation tools improve efficiency and reduce headcount, but they also increase legal risk.
A federal judge in San Francisco recently ruled that a class action lawsuit must be filed against enterprise software company Workday, alleging that the company’s AI selection software discriminates against job applicants.
John Hyman, director of employment and labor practice at Wickens Herzer Panza, said the Meta lawsuit is a warning to employers who rely on artificial intelligence to make important employment decisions.
AI can be a valuable tool to inform these decisions, but employers will be held accountable if they penalize employees for protected absence, disability or other legally protected characteristics, he said.
Meta laid off 10% of its global workforce (approximately 8,000 people) in May as part of a restructuring to expand its use of AI.
“The legal question is not whether the employer used AI, but whether the employer blindly trusted it,” Hyman said. “The most successful companies will not be those that avoid AI completely, but those that rigorously audit their AI, understand how it arrives at its recommendations, and ensure that humans exercise independent judgment before making hiring decisions.”
