Mass layoffs on Twitter: employees are preparing a lawsuit
Because Elon Musk is planning to lay off half of the Twitter employees, the workforce now apparently wants to take legal action. The reason: Musk did not sufficiently announce the layoffs.
First the management had to believe in it, now it’s the turn of the workforce: Elon Musk plans to lay off half of all Twitter employees. Like the news agency Reuters reports, some offices are already closed.
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Twitter employees don’t know if they’ll be fired
For about a week, following Elon Musk’s official takeover, Twitter officials have been waiting for news. On Friday, November 4, 2022 at 5 p.m. Central European Time, Musk now wants to inform his staff about the layoffs.
Twitter employees have been instructed to stay home
But although the official termination email is still pending, some employees already seem to know that they will lose their jobs. Because the company simply withdrew theirs logins. One employee wrote on Twitter:
Looks like I’m unemployed. I’ve just been signed out of my work laptop and removed from Slack.
Looks like I’m unemployed y’all. Just got remotely logged out of my work laptop and removed from Slack. #OneTeam forever. Loved you all so much.
So sad it had to end this way 💔
— Simon Balmain (@SimonBalmain) November 4, 2022
In addition, Musk apparently simply closed some offices and instructed staff to stay at home. Employees reported that they had to gather information about the current status of the company through official media, private news groups and anonymous forums.
Under the hashtag #OneTeam employees are venting their frustration at the nature of the layoffs on Twitter.
what a fucking coward. happy to shit post but too afraid to address employees or even sign the RIF announcement email. own it, asshole.
from one ex-tweep to the new ones: y’all deserve better and my 💙 is with you. let me know how i can help.#OneTeam #lovewhereyouworked
— Jarred Taylor (@jarredt) November 4, 2022
Twitter employees file class action lawsuit
However, the staff of the micro-blogging service apparently does not want to just let the planned mass layoffs sit. Last Thursday, November 3, 2022, some employees filed a class action lawsuit against Twitter.
The company failed to provide the required 60-day notice period for terminations. It violates federal and California law.
In addition, the federal court in San Francisco has been asked to bar Twitter from asking fired employees to sign documents without informing them of the ongoing process.
Similar lawsuit against Tesla
Meanwhile, attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan is handling the lawsuit. She had previously Tesla sued. There, too, Elon Musk wanted to lay off ten percent of the workforce. In this case, the car manufacturer and its employees had reached an agreement in arbitration proceedings.
Elon Musk wants to enforce a new work ethic
Internal plans indicate that Musk wants to lay off about 3,700 Twitter employees. This is intended to reduce costs and establish a new, demanding work ethic.
In an effort to put Twitter on a healthy path, we will go through the difficult process of reducing our global workforce on Friday.
The cuts probably affect the company’s moderation team in particular. Musk had previously announced that he would restore free speech on the social media platform. So far, Twitter has not issued any concrete statement on the class action lawsuit.
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