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Twitter: A group of former Twitter employees who are suing Elon Musk achieved a preliminary victory on Wednesday.
A judge required the social networking business to notify the fired employees of the legal proceedings.
This ensures that workers are informed before being asked to sign a release of liability clause in a severance agreement.
The lawsuit
After Elon Musk took over the company last month, Twitter let go of thousands of employees.
Following the acquisition, a number of former employees claimed that he had broken his pledge to permit remote work and offer consistent severance money.
The class-action status requested in this case.
Additionally, it alleges that the business did not provide at least one recently laid-off employee enough notice.
California and federal law both need the notice.
Neither Musk nor Twitter did not compensate the worker in lieu of the notice.
The order
On Wednesday, the motion was approved by the judge, Hames Donato.
Twitter’s talks with employees “should not be rendered misleading by omitting material information about a pending lawsuit,” the California district court judge ruled.
The order demonstrates the court’s consideration of the employee’s viewpoint.
Read also: TikTok research finds teens exposed to harmful content
The layoffs
Twitter and Elon Musk sacked thousands of staff beginning in November.
The decision was made in an effort to save money.
Employees began posting that they couldn’t access their work email accounts the evening before the layoffs.
Some people used salute and blue heart emoticons to signify their departure from the organization.
By dawn, a number of Twitter departments announced their exit.
The following departments are among those impacted:
- Ethical AI
- Marketing and communication
- Search
- Public policy
- Wellness
Additionally, the curation team, which promotes reliable content on Twitter about subjects like elections, lost a number of its members.
Someone claimed that they had been deleted and remotely logged out of Slack.
Many workers admitted to having access issues hours before Musk fired them.
In addition, they received emails that said nothing about the layoff.
However, several of the fired employees felt relieved.
Explanation
Elon Musk visited an investor conference early in November, participating in a cordial interview as Twitter employees announced their layoffs.
Musk didn’t say anything in response to the interviewer’s claim that he fired half the staff; he simply nodded.
The Tesla CEO then defended the firings by saying that the business had faced “revenue issues” prior to his acquisition, similar to other social networking sites.
Advertisers were reevaluating their spending as long as recessionary anxieties persisted throughout the year.
The cuts
Before Musk’s takeover, Twitter had a workforce of over 7,500; as a result, 3,700 people were let go.
After incurring substantial debt to cover the $44 billion acquisition, Twitter made adjustments to strengthen its financial situation.
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, Twitter announced that all credential access would be suspended, and the offices would be temporarily closed in order to safeguard the security of its personnel and systems.
Read also: Twitter Blue is $3 more for iPhone users
Other lawsuits
On behalf of former workers, Shannon Liss-Riordan filed the lawsuit against Twitter.
She claimed that the order is a straightforward but essential step that gives workers a chance to understand their rights rather than depriving them of money to which they are legally entitled due to Musk’s coercion.
Liss-Riordan brought four lawsuits on behalf of the former workers, this one being one of them.
Cases involving alleged discrimination based on gender and disability are also present.
Another is on behalf of contractors dismissed from Twitter.
The former employees are currently suing the corporation for alleged violations of the federal and California WARN Acts, which mandate early warning of mass layoffs and unspecified monetary damages.
Engineer Emmanuel Cornet, one of those suspended 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
