Twitter Inc., which was officially acquired by Elon Musk in October, was accused on Tuesday by 100 former employees of various legal violations, such as targeting women in massive layoffs and refusing to pay promised settlements.
Shannon Liss-Riordan, an associates attorney, said she has filed 100 arbitration requests against Twitter, with similar complaints to four class-action lawsuits pending in California federal court. Twitter is accused of gender discrimination, breach of contract terms, and illegal firing of employees who were on parental or sick leave.
All employees have signed an agreement that legal disputes with the company will be resolved in arbitration rather than in court, Liss-Riordan said, which prevents them from participating in class action suits. The attorney says his firm has spoken to hundreds of other former Twitter employees and plans to file more charges.
“Twitter’s behavior since Musk acquired the company is incredibly outrageous and we will take all reasonable steps to protect employees and get Twitter the compensation they deserve,” the attorney said.
Twitter laid off about 3,700 employees in early November in a bid by Elon Musk, who had paid $44 billion for the company, to cut spending. Hundreds of others subsequently tendered their resignations.
In class action lawsuit against Twitter, terminated employees and freelancers say their contracts were terminated without 60 days legal notice, women were disproportionately fired and employees with disabilities were fired for not being licensed to telework.
Additionally, there are at least three allegations against Twitter before a US labor council that employees were fired for criticizing the company, attempting to organize a strike, or other behavior protected by law.
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