In today’s news and commentary, 26 Meta employees sue the company alleging it used artificial intelligence to target workers on paid leave for layoffs, a trade union representing Canadian railway workers denounce Canadian National Railway for continuing service through active wildfire zones, and one in five games during the FIFA World Cup were played in heat and humidity conditions that the players’ union FIFPRO argued should trigger suspension or postponement of games.
Twenty-six current and former Meta employees filed suit in federal court this week alleging the company used AI-driven performance metrics that failed to account for protected medical, family, and bereavement leave, resulting in workers on leave being disproportionately selected for layoffs, the Los Angeles Times reports. The complaint, filed after Meta’s May layoffs of roughly 8,000 workers, alleges violations of federal and state leave and disability protections and seeks an injunction plus an independent audit of the company’s algorithmically assisted selection process. Meta says staffing decisions “were and are made by people, not AI.” The suit is among the first to test how existing leave and disability statutes apply when an algorithm—rather than a manager—does the sorting, a question likely to recur as more employers lean on AI for workforce decisions.
A rail crew was forced to evacuate a Canadian National Railway train near Armstrong, Ontario, on Tuesday after it became surrounded by an...
A UK woman who claimed that hip pain left her unable to walk, drive or work has been ordered to pay more than 6,000 after admitting to fraudulently claiming Statutory Sick Pay while working for ot...