Elon Musk has lost a legal battle over unpaid severance pay to a former Twitter worker who was fired when he took over the social media platform in 2022, in line with a memo seen by Bloomberg News.
The arbitration resolution of the dispute got here nearly two years after Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion and immediately laid off greater than half of its employees.
The move sparked greater than 2,000 complaints from former employees claiming they were shortchanged on pay. The victory in Friday’s case could set a precedent for hundreds of former employees who’ve initiated similar arbitration proceedings.
“The arbitrator has awarded our client full compensation,” attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan said Monday within the memo, which was obtained by two former Twitter employees who asked to not be anonymous and didn’t disclose confidential information. “We are pleased with this development and hope it is a harbinger of more good news to come.”
Liss-Riordan declined to comment on or disclose the arbitrator’s written decision following her client’s closed hearing before a non-public judge.
X didn’t reply to a request for comment.
In July, Musk and X Corp. – the name the billionaire selected to rebrand Twitter – founded defeated a lawsuit alleging that roughly 6,000 laid-off employees are entitled to no less than $500 million in severance payments under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
In the memo, Liss-Riordan said that 15 cases had been referred to arbitration and that she expected more rulings in the approaching months.
“We hope that if further rulings are made, Twitter/X will be willing to come to the negotiating table and negotiate a settlement for everyone,” she wrote.
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