Twitter Faces Another Lawsuit Worth $500mn in Severance Pay to Former Employees

New Delhi, 19th July 2023: Twitter has become entwined in yet another legal battle after being served with a second complaint this month alleging that the firm owes former employees at least $500 million in severance pay. Chris Woodfield, a former senior programmer at Twitter, filed a proposed class action lawsuit alleging that the social media behemoth targeted older staff for layoffs—an assertion that distinguishes this case from others.

Woodfield, who worked for Twitter in Seattle, argues that the firm frequently informed employees that if they were laid off, they would receive two months’ pay and other benefits.

He and many other workers, however, have yet to get the promised compensation. Twitter implemented major layoffs as a cost-cutting measure following Elon Musk’s acquisition of the firm in October of the previous year, resulting in the layoff of more than half of the employees.

Surprisingly, Twitter’s response to inquiries about these lawsuits has been everything but standard. With no media relations staff to provide a formal comment, the corporation has resorted to an automatic response that included only a faeces emoji. Twitter has previously stated that all laid-off employees have been fully compensated.

A similar case was filed last week in a federal court in California, demanding more than $500 million in severance payments for former Twitter employees. According to the lawsuit, the firm violated federal regulations governing employee benefit plans by failing to follow the provisions of a severance plan negotiated before to Musk’s takeover.

Woodfield’s case against Twitter is based on claims of breach of contract and fraud. Furthermore, he claims that he was intentionally targeted for layoff because he was a “older worker,” despite the fact that his age is not indicated in the complaint.

According to the lawsuit, Woodfield agreed to arbitrate work-related legal conflicts, which required Twitter to bear the initial fees to proceed with individual cases. Woodfield claims that he initiated arbitration against Twitter earlier this year, but that the corporation has refused to pay the required amount, thereby stalling the case.

This claim mirrored the feelings made by hundreds of former employees in a different instance earlier this year, in which Twitter claimed that these individuals had failed to submit the necessary paperwork.

In addition to these severance compensation litigation, Twitter has been accused of gender and disability discrimination, failure to provide early notice of layoffs, and failing to pay promised incentives to remaining employees in a number of other legal actions. The corporation has always disputed these allegations.