Twitter is already facing a proposed class action claiming the layoffs are imminent and will violate US and California laws if employees are not given advance notice or severance pay.
The lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court late on Thursday claims Twitter locked employees out of their accounts on Thursday, signalling that they will soon lose their jobs. One of the five named plaintiffs, who is based in California, says he was terminated on Nov. 1 without notice or severance pay.
Twitter did not respond to a request for comment. Late on Friday, Musk tweeted that “everyone exited was offered three months of severance, which is 50% more than legally required.” Shannon Liss-Riordan, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said on Friday that it appeared Twitter was making an effort to comply with the WARN Act by offering to pay some employees through Jan. 4. She said employees were told they would be presented with severance agreements next week requiring them to waive their ability to sue Twitter in exchange for a payout.
Liss-Riordan said she is also investigating “how Twitter chose employees for layoff and whether any discrimination or retaliation was involved.”Tesla Inc was sued in Texas federal court in June for allegedly violating the WARN Act through an abrupt nationwide purge of its workforce, including 500 layoffs at a factory in Sparks, Nevada. Liss-Riordan also represents the workers in the Tesla case.
Last month, a federal judge said Tesla workers must pursue their claims in private arbitration rather than court. The same issue could arise in the lawsuit against Twitter, as more than half of private sector US workers have signed agreements to arbitrate employment-related legal disputes.Employers faced a spike in lawsuits brought under the WARN Act and state laws during the Covid-19 pandemic, as many businesses abruptly shuttered or terminated many of their employees.
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