A federal judge in San Francisco has rejected an emergency bid by 26 Meta employees to halt their terminations, after they alleged that internal AI-driven tools contributed to discriminatory layoff decisions. The workers claimed systems such as the “Metamate” AI and productivity scoring unfairly penalized employees who took legally protected medical or family leave. In his ruling, Judge William Orrick said the plaintiffs lacked immediate access to evidence showing how the tools were used, noting they were “not in the rooms where it happened.” Meta denies that AI made termination decisions and is steering the dispute into private arbitration rather than a public trial.

Prepared by Christopher Adams and reviewed by editorial team.