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Twitter: A group of former Twitter employees who are suing Elon Musk achieved an early victory on Wednesday.
A judge commanded the social media business to inform the fired workers about the litigation proceeding.
Before being asked to sign a severance agreement that contains a release of legal claims, doing this guarantees that employees are kept informed.
The lawsuit
After Elon Musk took over the company last month, Twitter let go of thousands of its employees.
After purchasing the business, several former employees claimed that Musk had broken his pledge to permit remote work and offer reliable severance compensation.
Class-action status is sought in the case.
Additionally, it claims that the business did not provide at least one recently laid-off employee enough notice.
Both California and federal laws demand the notice.
The worker wasn’t given a salary in place of the notice, either.
The order
On Wednesday, the motion was approved by the judge, Hames Donato.
Twitter’s interactions with employees “should not be rendered misleading by omitting material information about a pending lawsuit,” the California district court judge presiding over the matter ruled.
The order is the first sign that the court understands the employee’s position.
Read also: Elon Musk recently sold a portion of Tesla’s shares
The layoffs
Twitter and Elon Musk laid off thousands of workers starting in November.
The decision was made as part of a cost-cutting strategy.
Employees began posting that they were locked out of their work email accounts the evening before the layoffs occurred.
Some people used blue hearts and the salute emoji to express that they were leaving the company.
By dawn, numerous departments of Twitter employees announced that they had been fired.
The following departments are among those impacted:
- Ethical AI
- Marketing and communication
- Search
- Public policy
- Wellness
Members were also lost from the curation team, which promotes reliable content on Twitter about subjects like elections.
An individual claimed to have been remotely logged out and removed from Slack.
Many people shared that they lost access hours before hearing Musk dismissed them.
Furthermore, the emails they received didn’t provide any information about the layoff.
Some people, though, felt relieved to be fired.
Explanation
Elon Musk appeared at an investor conference in early November, attending a cordial interview as Twitter employees disclosed their layoffs.
Musk didn’t respond to the interviewer’s claim that he fired half the company’s employees; he only nodded.
The Tesla CEO then justified the layoffs by claiming they were necessary since the business, like other social networking companies, had had “revenue issues” before his acquisition.
As recessionary anxieties persisted throughout the year, advertisers were reconsidering their spending.
The cuts
Twitter employed over 7,500 people before the Musk acquisition, meaning 3,700 people were let go.
After incurring enormous debt to fund the $44 billion acquisition, Twitter made the adjustments to strengthen its bottom line.
The email informing staff of their status is as follows:
“If your employment is not impacted, you will receive a notification via your Twitter email.”
“If your employment is impacted, you will receive a notification with next steps via your personal email.”
Additionally, it stated that all credential access would be suspended, and the company’s offices would be temporarily closed to safeguard the security of Twitter’s personnel and systems.
Read also: Twitter Blue charged $3 extra for iPhone users
Other lawsuits
Shannon Liss-Riordan is bringing the lawsuit against Twitter on behalf of the former workers.
In a statement, she said that the order is a straightforward but essential move that gives employees a chance to understand their rights rather than giving away money they are entitled as a result of Musk’s coercion.
Liss-Riordan brought four lawsuits on behalf of the former workers, this one being one of them.
Complaints of alleged discrimination based on gender and disability are included in further lawsuits.
Another is on behalf of contractors who worked for Twitter but were let go.
The former workers are currently suing the corporation for alleged violations of the federal and California WARN Acts, which demand early notification of mass layoffs and unspecified monetary damages.
Engineer Emmanuel Cornet, one of those removed from Twitter, stated in a news conference last week:
“It seems like the layoffs have been done in a way that’s really clumsy and inhumane and potentially illegal… and this is the aftermath.”
References:
Former employees suing Twitter over layoffs score an early victory
