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Fired Twitter workers can’t bring a class action lawsuit against Elon Musk for firing them with insufficient notice, judge rules, and must bring cases against them individually
- Court rules five fired Twitter workers must individually sue social media company
- Company faces discrimination claims after $44 billion acquisition of Elon Musk
- District Judge James Donato cited agreements the workers had signed in his sentencing
Twitter employees hoping to sue the company for firing them without notice have been told they can’t start a class action lawsuit.
In a court ruling on Friday, the social media company, which also faces charges of gender and disability discrimination, won its bid to force five former workers to file their claims individually.
U.S. District Judge James Donato cited agreements the employees had signed with the company, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, in his reasoning for the ruling.
Twitter owner Elon Musk wins bid to force five former employees to file their claims individually instead of as a class action lawsuit.
Twitter plunged into hot water in early November after it laid off some 3,700 employees as part of a cost-cutting move.
Hundreds more subsequently resigned.
In December, the firm was also accused by dozens of former employees of various legal violations stemming from Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of the company.
These included firing the women and failing to pay promised severance payments.
Shannon Liss-Riordan, who is representing the plaintiffs, said Monday that she had already filed 300 arbitration claims on behalf of former Twitter employees.
He added that he would probably present hundreds more.
Musk, 51, bought Twitter in October 2022 for $44 billion and was installed as CEO immediately.
Twitter also faces at least three complaints filed with a US labor board alleging workers were fired for criticizing the company, attempting to stage a strike and other conduct protected by federal labor law.
The company did not respond to a request for comment.
Last year, San Francisco Judge Donato ruled that Twitter must notify the thousands of workers who were laid off after its acquisition by Musk following a proposed class action lawsuit accusing the company of failing to provide adequate notice before firing them.
Twitter is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
He said that before asking workers to sign severance agreements giving up their ability to sue the company, Twitter must give them “concise and clearly worded notice.”
Last week it was revealed that Elon Musk had broken the world record for accumulating the largest losses of his personal fortune in history.
The businessman wiped out $165 billion of his wealth between November 2021 and December 2022, according to Guinness World Records.
The share value of Tesla, Musk’s electric car company, plunged about 65 percent after it bought Twitter last year, a move that spooked investors.
US District Judge James Donato cited agreements the employees had signed with the company, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, in his reasoning for the ruling.