Twitter is embroiled in yet another legal battle as it was hit with a second lawsuit this month, claiming that the company owes at least $500 million in severance pay to former employees. The lawsuit, filed as a proposed class action by Chris Woodfield, a former senior engineer at Twitter, alleges that the social media giant targeted older workers for layoffs—an accusation that sets this case apart from others.
Woodfield, who worked for Twitter in Seattle, claims that the company repeatedly assured employees that they would receive two months' salary and other benefits in the event of a layoff. However, he and numerous other workers have yet to receive the promised compensation. The mass layoffs were implemented by Twitter in a cost-cutting move following Elon Musk's acquisition of the company in October of the previous year, which resulted in over half of the workforce being let go.
Interestingly, Twitter's response to inquiries regarding these lawsuits has been far from conventional. With no media relations department to provide a formal statement, the company resorted to an automated response, consisting solely of a poop emoji. In previous cases, Twitter has maintained that all laid-off employees have been fully compensated.
Last week, a similar lawsuit was filed in a California federal court, seeking more than $500 million in severance payments for former Twitter employees. This lawsuit claims that the company violated federal regulations on employee benefit plans by failing to adhere to the terms of a severance plan established prior to Musk's acquisition.
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Woodfield's lawsuit against Twitter alleges breach of contract and fraud. Furthermore, he asserts that he was specifically targeted for layoff due to being an "older worker," although his age is not specified in the complaint.
According to the lawsuit, Woodfield had signed an agreement mandating arbitration for work-related legal disputes, which required Twitter to cover the initial fees to proceed with individual cases. Woodfield states that he initiated arbitration against Twitter earlier this year, but the company has allegedly refused to pay the necessary fee, effectively obstructing the case. This claim echoes the sentiments expressed by hundreds of former employees in a separate case earlier this year, where Twitter contended that these individuals had not submitted the required paperwork.
Apart from these severance pay-related lawsuits, Twitter has also faced allegations of gender and disability discrimination, failure to provide advance notice of layoffs, and non-payment of promised bonuses to remaining employees in multiple other legal actions. The company has consistently denied these claims.
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