San Francisco city officials have initiated an investigation into Twitter following allegations made by six former employees, claiming that Elon Musk's leadership team violated laws by transforming the company's headquarters into what they referred to as a "Twitter Hotel." The ex-employees assert that they were coerced into working late hours to overhaul the social media platform.
The San Francisco Department of Building Inspection announced on Friday that it has opened a new complaint and will be conducting a thorough investigation into the recent allegations. This move by the city comes in response to a report published earlier by the San Francisco Chronicle, shedding light on the ongoing investigation into the company since Musk's acquisition late last year.
The former employees, including a former vice president of real estate, filed a lawsuit in a federal court in Delaware, claiming that Twitter failed to fulfil its commitment to provide them with promised severance packages. Twitter, on the other hand, is seeking to have the case dismissed.
Additionally, the ex-workers contend that Musk's team mandated a series of modifications to the company's headquarters located in a 1930s Art Deco building in downtown San Francisco, which were in violation of building codes. These alterations included disabling lights and installing locks that would not open in emergency situations, as outlined in the lawsuit.
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Among the plaintiffs is Tracy Hawkins, the former vice president of real estate and workplace at Twitter, who was responsible for overseeing the management of the company's physical offices and leases. The lawsuit asserts that Hawkins initially had no objections to Musk's takeover but ultimately felt compelled to resign when Musk and his transition team insisted on actions that would have violated her professional ethics, such as intentionally breaching leases and other contracts. The lawsuit further alleges that Musk refused to pay rent for the building.
This is not the first time San Francisco authorities have clashed with Musk since his acquisition of Twitter for $44 billion in October. Following the purchase, Musk downsized a significant portion of the workforce and converted parts of the company's headquarters into living quarters.
Earlier this year, building inspectors from San Francisco provided Twitter's construction contractor with a two-week deadline to submit a corrected building use permit if the company intended to continue using two conference rooms as bedrooms.
The city had already launched an investigation in December, prompted by a Forbes report highlighting the presence of beds in the building. However, it's important to note that despite Elon Musk's criticism of San Francisco Mayor London Breed, there is no evidence to suggest her involvement in the inspection process.
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