US judge orders Meta to disclose layoff process for visa‑holding staff

U.S. District Judge William Orrick has required Meta Platforms Inc. to explain how it selected four company‑sponsored visa holders for redundancy, giving the company until July 23 to provide a detailed account. The order follows a lawsuit by 26 current and former Meta employees alleging that artificial‑intelligence tools were used to make layoff decisions that disproportionately affected workers on protected medical, family or pregnancy leave.

In a sworn 13‑page filing, Meta’s HR Business Partner Enablement director Linh Doan described the decision‑making process. She said senior leaders first identified affected business units, grouped employees by role and level, and applied objective selection criteria linked to business needs and performance ratings. The filing states that AI tools were not used to choose individuals; an employee‑activity monitoring system was launched after the layoff selections were already underway. The broader layoff round involves about 8,000 positions. The visa holders face a 60‑day grace period to secure another sponsoring employer or risk losing their legal right to remain in the United States.