Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR)
A federal court in San Francisco has ordered Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) to inform the hundreds of employees who were let off following its takeover by Elon Musk of a planned class action accusing the business of failing to provide enough notice before firing them.
U.S. District Judge James Donato issued a three-page order on Wednesday instructing Twitter to provide employees with “a short and properly written notice” of the case filed last month before requiring them to sign severance agreements surrendering their capacity to sue the business.
To slash costs, Musk, the wealthiest man in the world, ordered Twitter to lay off almost 3,700 workers in early November, and hundreds more quit in protest.
The complaint claims that Twitter conducted mass layoffs without providing the requisite 60 days’ notice, as federal and California law requires. As expected, Twitter says it did nothing wrong.
According to the order by Judge Donato, it would be deceptive to urge employees to sign away their legal rights against Twitter without disclosing the litigation.
Twitter had agreed to wait for Donato’s ruling before pursuing releases from terminated employees.
This ruling is “a simple but crucial step that will give workers a chance to more fully understand their rights instead of merely signing them away,” said plaintiffs’ attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan.
Unfortunately, Twitter did not provide any remarks in response to our inquiry.
Corporation lawyers said they didn’t need to provide notice since most workers had already agreed to arbitrate legal problems and give up their rights to participate in class actions against the company.
Donato will hear Twitter’s request to have the case sent to arbitration at the beginning of next month. This month, the plaintiffs filed an updated case including employees who claim they were never asked to sign arbitration agreements.
Three further class actions have been filed against Twitter in the same court over the layoffs. Twitter has been sued for discriminating against female and disabled employees and for failing to provide enough notice to contract workers before their termination. The firm has not addressed the allegations.
Liss-Riordan has said that she may file more employment claims against Twitter if the firm withholds severance money from terminated employees since she is a party to all the complaints. The previous week, she also said that she would fight for workers’ rights if Musk followed through on a rumored threat to sue staff who disclose confidential material to the press.
Featured Image – Pexels © Brett Jordan
Author Shariq Khan 
