On July 23, Meta faced a court deadline to explain how it selected four visa-holding employees for layoff during its 8,000-person workforce reduction.
US District Judge William Orrick demanded the tech giant detail its decision-making, following claims that AI-driven tools unfairly targeted workers on protected leave.
The affected visa holders, mostly on H-1B visas, must find new sponsors within 60 days or risk deportation, adding urgency to the case.
Judge Orrick highlighted the severe consequences for these visa workers beyond financial harm but did not stop Meta’s layoffs, which continue as planned.
The July 13 lawsuit by 26 current and former Meta staff alleges that automated performance-ranking systems discriminated against employees on medical, family, or pregnancy leave.
Meta denies these accusations, asserting human managers made all layoff decisions and calling the claims unfounded. The company says workforce changes differ across teams.
The judge’s order requires Meta to provide transparency but stops short of judging the merits of the case.
