(New York Post) A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Twitter over Elon Musk’s plan to sack thousands of staffers — as employees were abruptly locked out of their company Slack and email accounts, and barred from going into the office ahead of the mass layoffs Friday.
The lawsuit was filed Thursday in San Francisco federal court after the company notified employees it would eliminate some 3,700 jobs, half its workforce, Bloomberg News reported.
It alleges that employees weren’t given enough notice of the mass layoffs in violation of federal and California law.
It seeks an order requiring the social media platform to obey the WARN Act — the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, a federal law requiring companies with 100 or more workers to give 60 days’ notice of mass layoffs or other work disruptions.
The suit also wants the court to restrict Twitter from soliciting staffers to sign documents that could give up their right to take part in litigation, according to the news outlet.
Elon Musk is shaking a lot of things up since his arrival as the new CEO of Twitter, as workers were informed there will be a massive staff overhaul.AFP via Getty Images
“We filed this lawsuit tonight in an attempt to make sure that employees are aware that they should not sign away their rights and that they have an avenue for pursuing their rights,” Shannon Liss-Riordan, the attorney who filed the lawsuit, told Bloomberg.
Twitter didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment by Bloomberg.
The filing comes as employees received an alert notifying them of the “unfortunate” moves.
The internal email, obtained by the Washington Post, warned employees that the terminations would kick off Friday as Musk’s takeover of the company continues to shake its workplace culture.
It coldly states that staffers would receive an email with the subject line: “Your Role at Twitter.”
The email also informed them that all offices would be closed.
Some Twitter employees also reported being blocked from their company Slack and email accounts late Thursday, Business Insider reported.
The lawsuit was filed in San Francisco federal court after the company notified employees it would eliminate some 3,700 jobs.
