# Lawsuit Says Meta's AI Targeted Workers With Medical Conditions for Layoffs > Source: > Published: 2026-07-15 15:57:03+00:00 Meta has been hit with a lawsuit from 26 employees who allege that they were unfairly targeted for pre-existing medical conditions and disabilities during the company's [recent round of layoffs](/social-media/164584/meta-informs-staff-it-will-cut-8000-jobs-next-month). The suit claims that when Meta used its internal AI system to recommend candidates for layoffs, it went after workers with known medical conditions, [Reuters reports](https://www.reuters.com/world/meta-used-ai-target-workers-with-medical-conditions-layoffs-former-employees-2026-07-14/). Unable to work as often or in the same manner as non-disabled employees, the affected employees say the AI punished them unfairly. The employees are set to be officially let go on July 22, but the suit asks a judge to temporarily block the layoffs while they pursue private arbitration. Meta's communications chief, Andy Stone, denies any wrongdoing. "This is patently untrue. Full stop," he [tweeted](https://x.com/andymstone/status/2077061627703177474). "Workforce management and organizational decisions were and are made by people, not AI." Meta, like many major tech companies that overhired during the pandemic years, has laid off thousands over [the past year](/social-media/163818/meta-reportedly-plans-to-lay-off-20-of-its-staff-amid-ai-push). Those who remain have been subjected to [keyboard and mouse tracking](/ai/165331/meta-workers-to-get-30-minute-breaks-from-keyboard-mouse-tracking) as part of an AI training effort that the company eventually [paused](/ai/165751/meta-pauses-employee-monitoring-program-following-internal-data-leak). In announcing more than 8,000 layoffs in May, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, "We do not expect other company-wide layoffs this year." After [abandoning](/vr-1/164299/the-70-billion-delusion-why-zuckerbergs-metaverse-was-dead-on-arrival) large-scale efforts on the metaverse, Meta is moving full-speed ahead on its AI ambitions, funding [massive data centers](/ai/166129/meta-plans-huge-data-center-expansion-how-will-it-use-that-excess-compute) and exploring the sale of [spare compute capacity](/ai/165970/meta-exploring-option-to-sell-spare-compute-capacity-to-generate-ai-revenue).