US judge won't block Meta from laying off workers who filed AI discrimination lawsuit

July 17 : A U.S. judge on Friday rejected a bid by 26 employees of Meta Platforms to block the tech giant from laying them off while they pursue claims that they were targeted for job cuts by the company's AI-powered tools because they have disabilities or took medical leave. U.S. District Judge William Orrick in Oakland, California, in a written order said he would not stop Meta from carrying out the layoffs beginning July 22 while the merits of the workers' novel legal claims are decided in private arbitration. The judge said the workers could not show that losing their jobs amounted to the "irreparable harm" required for him to issue an emergency order blocking the layoffs.Meta and lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The company has denied wro