Jobaaj Stories
Twitter Inc is encountering yet another legal challenge from former employees who claim the company owes them a substantial sum of at least $500 million in severance pay. This latest lawsuit marks the second one to emerge this month following Elon Musk's acquisition of the social media company.
The class action lawsuit was filed in Delaware federal court by Woodfield, a former senior engineer at Twitter. This particular case includes allegations that Twitter specifically targeted older workers for layoffs, a claim not previously raised in other pending lawsuits.
According to Woodfield, Twitter repeatedly assured its employees that they would receive two months' salary and additional payouts if they were laid off. However, he and other workers have not received the promised compensation. The layoffs were implemented as a cost-cutting measure shortly after Musk's acquisition of the company in October of the previous year. Twitter has responded to previous lawsuits, asserting that laid-off employees were indeed paid in full.
In a similar lawsuit filed last week in California federal court, former Twitter employees sought more than $500 million in severance pay, alleging that Twitter violated federal law by not adhering to a severance plan established prior to Musk's acquisition.
In this new lawsuit, Woodfield accuses Twitter of breaching contracts and committing fraud. Additionally, he claims that he was singled out for layoff because of his status as an "older worker," although his specific age is not mentioned in the complaint.
Woodfield had agreed to arbitrate work-related legal disputes through an agreement that obligated Twitter to cover the initial fees required for individual cases. However, he claims that Twitter has declined to pay the fee for his case, obstructing its progress. Similar claims were made by hundreds of ex-employees in a separate case earlier this year, with Twitter contending that the necessary paperwork was not submitted.
Beyond the severance pay issues, Twitter has faced several other legal challenges, including accusations of disproportionately laying off women and workers with disabilities, failure to provide advance notice of layoffs and non-payment of promised bonuses to remaining employees. The company has consistently denied these claims.
— Harshita Kumar
