Elon Musk's proposal to cut 3,700 jobs from the social media platform, or almost half of its employment, has led to a lawsuit against Twitter Inc., which the company's employees claim was done without providing adequate notice and in violation of federal and California law.
The attorney who "pre-emptively" sued Twitter Inc. on the day of Elon Musk's mass layoffs expressed her "pleasure" after learning that at least some employees will continue to be paid until January 4.
Twitter informed personnel through email that it would begin staff reductions on Friday. According to those with knowledge of the situation, Musk has committed to reduce expenses at the platform he recently paid $44 billion for.
Large corporations are prohibited from implementing mass layoffs without providing at least 60 days' notice under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.
Twitter didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit requests that the court issue an order ordering Twitter to abide with the WARN Act and prohibiting the firm from asking staff members to sign agreements that would waive their right to participate in legal proceedings.
“We filed this lawsuit tonight in an attempt to make sure that employees are aware that they should not sign away their rights and that they have an avenue for pursuing their rights," Shannon Liss-Riordan, the attorney who filed Thursday’s complaint, said in an interview.
Liss-Riordan, who brought a comparable complaint over Tesla Inc. layoffs in June, said she "will be monitoring the situation" at Twitter to make sure workers get the proper notice and benefits.
“I am pleased that Elon Musk learned something from the lawsuit we brought against him at Tesla,” she said in an email. “We filed this case preemptively to make sure a repeat of that violation did not happen.”
