Employees Sue Meta Over Alleged AI-Selected Termination

Former Meta employees, impacted by the Company’s April 2026 layoffs sought a temporary restraining order (TRO), alleging that the company made layoffs using artificial intelligence (AI) to select workers for termination. The United States District Court for the Northern District of California denied that request, while leaving open the possibility of a preliminary injunction based on further briefing and presentation of evidence as to the criteria and systems used by Meta to select employees for layoff.

In April 2026, Meta announced that in an effort to “remake itself into an ‘A.I.-first’ company,” approximately 8,000 employees—roughly 10 percent of its workforce—would be laid off on May 20, 2026.

Twenty-six current and former Meta employees, all of whom were selected for separation in the reduction in force (RIF), filed suit. They alleged that Meta used a “constellation of internal artificial-intelligence-assisted systems” to score, rank and select employees for inclusion on its termination list.

The system used performance ratings, productivity and other output metrics that the plaintiffs allege excluded employees who had taken time away from work and didn’t have as many metrics to measure against other employees, thereby running afoul of various state and federal employment and disability laws.

In their motion for a TRO, the plaintiffs asked the court to enjoin Meta from “separating, terminating, or negatively altering” their compensation and benefits and to direct Meta to preserve all data.

U.S. District Court Judge William H. Orrick denied the motion, but left open the possibility of preliminary injunction for those plaintiffs with Meta-sponsored employment visas.

The plaintiffs “have established that there are at least ‘serious questions going to the merits’ of their claims.” The court found, however, that they “have not demonstrated irreparable injury at this juncture,” as such injury would require further evidentiary inquiry.

While the plaintiffs identified five irreparable harms—loss of employer-sponsored health insurance, loss of protected leave time, loss of unvested equity compensation, loss of employment visas and immigration status and loss of the ability to “undo” Meta’s RIF once finalized—four of the five were not irreparable because each can be remedied through damages, back pay or other comparable relief in the arbitration process, the court pointed out.

“Loss of immigration is different,” the court wrote. Four of the plaintiffs have employment-based, nonimmigrant visas sponsored by Meta and would be left with a grace period of up to 60 days to secure new sponsored employment, change status or depart the United States.

Meta argued that the immigration concerns did not constitute irreparable harm, but the court declined to make that finding at this juncture.

“Plaintiffs face an imminent threat of removal from the United States, absent finding new employment in the next sixty days,” the court said. “Their harm is more than mere ‘speculation,’ as Meta characterized at oral argument. These immigration conditions likely constitute irreparable harm and may warrant injunctive relief.”

On the balance of the equities and public interest factors, the court found the factors did not tip in the plaintiffs’ favor. Without downplaying the serious consequences of being laid off from employment, the court said their harms could be remedied through the arbitration process.

The court denied the motion for a TRO but ordered Meta to submit a declaration explaining how and why the four plaintiffs with Meta-sponsored employment visas were selected for termination.

To read the order in Doe v. Meta Platforms, Inc., click .

Why it matters: The lawsuit has made headlines for its allegations that the employer used AI to make its selection for termination. While the court denied the plaintiffs’ request for a TRO, finding that most of the identified irreparable harms could be remedied, it requested more information about the claims of plaintiffs with employment visas.