WAGE THEFT
A lawyer for fired Twitter staff says Elon Musk is trying to 'tap-dance' his way out of paying severance, and threatens a 'fun as hell' arbitration campaignPete Syme
Fri, December 2, 2022
Elon Musk has reduced Twitter's workforce by almost 70%.
Muhammed Selim Korkutata/Getty Images
A lawyer representing laid-off Twitter staff sent a fiery letter to Elon Musk's lawyer, Alex Spiro.
Akiva Cohen claimed his clients weren't receiving the severance package they had been promised.
Cohen tweeted that he hoped Musk would do the right thing, otherwise "it'll be fun as hell."
A lawyer for fired Twitter staff has given Elon Musk a deadline of December 7 to confirm that he will pay them full severance as promised, or face an arbitration campaign to settle the dispute.
Akiva Cohen — a partner at law firm Kamerman, Uncyk, Soniker & Klein — tweeted a copy of his letter which addresses Musk as the "Chief Twit."
He accused the world's richest person of "attempting to tap-dance your way out of Twitter's binding obligations to its employees."
"If you don't unequivocally confirm by Wednesday, December 7 that you intend to provide our clients with the full severance Twitter promised them, we will commence an arbitration campaign on their behalf," Cohen said.
Since Musk took over the company, Twitter's workforce has fallen from 7,500 to 2,300, per Insider's Kali Hays.
That means almost 70% of staff were laid-off, mostly during the first round when Musk halved employee numbers, and his ultimatum to commit to working "extremely hardcore" or be laid-off with three months severance.
The cuts resulted in the closure of Twitter's office responsible for complying with European misinformation laws, and just one employee left on the Asia child safety team.
One executive has also been reinstated after she was dismissed for not responding to the "hardcore" ultimatum.
Musk now stands accused by some former Twitter staff of failing to provide the severance package they were promised, as alleged in a previous lawsuit.
Cohen said that his clients weren't receiving their full benefits, like 401k deductions.
His fiery letter says: "To be clear, Elon, you will lose, and you know it."
He adds that even if Musk did win, it would be "Pyrrhic" because "Twitter will pay far more in attorneys' fees and arbitration costs than it could possibly 'save' in severance due our clients."
In a tweet, Cohen added: "You can only violate people's legal rights and your own word so far before they lawyer up and come after you."
"I really do hope Musk changes his mind and does the right thing — the employees deserve that. But it'll be fun as hell if he doesn't."
The letter was also addressed to Alex Spiro, the acting general counsel at Twitter, who previously defended Musk after he called a British diver "pedo guy."
Cohen told Musk he still had time to avoid a legal case, "or you can double down on breaking your word and screwing over your ex-employees as they head into the holidays."
Spiro and Twitter did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A lawyer representing laid-off Twitter staff sent a fiery letter to Elon Musk's lawyer, Alex Spiro.
Akiva Cohen claimed his clients weren't receiving the severance package they had been promised.
Cohen tweeted that he hoped Musk would do the right thing, otherwise "it'll be fun as hell."
A lawyer for fired Twitter staff has given Elon Musk a deadline of December 7 to confirm that he will pay them full severance as promised, or face an arbitration campaign to settle the dispute.
Akiva Cohen — a partner at law firm Kamerman, Uncyk, Soniker & Klein — tweeted a copy of his letter which addresses Musk as the "Chief Twit."
He accused the world's richest person of "attempting to tap-dance your way out of Twitter's binding obligations to its employees."
"If you don't unequivocally confirm by Wednesday, December 7 that you intend to provide our clients with the full severance Twitter promised them, we will commence an arbitration campaign on their behalf," Cohen said.
Since Musk took over the company, Twitter's workforce has fallen from 7,500 to 2,300, per Insider's Kali Hays.
That means almost 70% of staff were laid-off, mostly during the first round when Musk halved employee numbers, and his ultimatum to commit to working "extremely hardcore" or be laid-off with three months severance.
The cuts resulted in the closure of Twitter's office responsible for complying with European misinformation laws, and just one employee left on the Asia child safety team.
One executive has also been reinstated after she was dismissed for not responding to the "hardcore" ultimatum.
Musk now stands accused by some former Twitter staff of failing to provide the severance package they were promised, as alleged in a previous lawsuit.
Cohen said that his clients weren't receiving their full benefits, like 401k deductions.
His fiery letter says: "To be clear, Elon, you will lose, and you know it."
He adds that even if Musk did win, it would be "Pyrrhic" because "Twitter will pay far more in attorneys' fees and arbitration costs than it could possibly 'save' in severance due our clients."
In a tweet, Cohen added: "You can only violate people's legal rights and your own word so far before they lawyer up and come after you."
"I really do hope Musk changes his mind and does the right thing — the employees deserve that. But it'll be fun as hell if he doesn't."
The letter was also addressed to Alex Spiro, the acting general counsel at Twitter, who previously defended Musk after he called a British diver "pedo guy."
Cohen told Musk he still had time to avoid a legal case, "or you can double down on breaking your word and screwing over your ex-employees as they head into the holidays."
Spiro and Twitter did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Twitter says it's reinstated an exec who says she was effectively dismissed after she didn't respond to Elon Musk's 'hardcore' ultimatum
Grace Dean
Fri, December 2, 2022
Twitter exec Sinéad McSweeney said she was effectively dismissed for failing to respond to Elon Musk's "hardcore" ultimatum.
The company told an Irish court it has reinstated McSweeney as its global VP for public policy.
McSweeney said she didn't respond to the email due to confusion around her contract, The Irish Times reported.
Twitter says it has reinstated an executive who says she was effectively dismissed for failing to respond to Elon Musk's "hardcore" ultimatum.
The social-media giant told the Irish High Court on Wednesday that it had reinstated Sinéad McSweeney as its global vice president for public policy, a number of Irish publications including The Irish Times reported. She has worked at the company since 2012, according to her LinkedIn.
McSweeney had previously told the court that the company had told her she had submitted a "voluntary resignation" after failing to respond to a company-wide email by new owner Elon Musk, even though she didn't intend to resign.
The email, sent late on November 15, told workers that they would need to be "extremely hardcore" and work "long hours at high intensity" to stay on at the company and asked them to respond to Google form committing to Musk's vision for "Twitter 2.0." If they didn't respond by the end of the business day on November 17, they would be laid off and given three months severance, Twitter said.
McSweeney said she didn't respond because of confusion related to her contract of employment, The Irish Times reported.
The day after the ultimatum's deadline, Twitter emailed McSweeney on her personal account, acknowledging her "voluntary resignation" and saying it accepted her severance package, she said. The company also locked her out of its systems, email, and Dublin office.
After her solicitors sent a letter to the company, Twitter's lawyers acknowledged that she hadn't intended to resign and said the company would restore her access to its systems, but failed to do so, McSweeney had claimed.
A High Court judge granted McSweeney a temporary injunction last Friday to stop Twitter from terminating her contract based on the ultimatum email.
Twitter's lawyers told the court on Wednesday that the company would restore McSweeney's access to its IT systems and Dublin office, per The Irish Times.
Lawyers for both Twitter and McSweeney didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on whether McSweeney had regained access.
Insider previously reported that fewer people committed to Twitter 2.0 than Musk and his team had expected, leading to the company's vice-presidents and Musk himself calling some "critical" workers in a desperate bid to persuade them to stay on. Since taking ownership of Twitter in late October, around three-quarters of the company's workforce has been laid off, fired, or has resigned.
Grace Dean
Fri, December 2, 2022
Twitter exec Sinéad McSweeney said she was effectively dismissed for failing to respond to Elon Musk's "hardcore" ultimatum.
The company told an Irish court it has reinstated McSweeney as its global VP for public policy.
McSweeney said she didn't respond to the email due to confusion around her contract, The Irish Times reported.
Twitter says it has reinstated an executive who says she was effectively dismissed for failing to respond to Elon Musk's "hardcore" ultimatum.
The social-media giant told the Irish High Court on Wednesday that it had reinstated Sinéad McSweeney as its global vice president for public policy, a number of Irish publications including The Irish Times reported. She has worked at the company since 2012, according to her LinkedIn.
McSweeney had previously told the court that the company had told her she had submitted a "voluntary resignation" after failing to respond to a company-wide email by new owner Elon Musk, even though she didn't intend to resign.
The email, sent late on November 15, told workers that they would need to be "extremely hardcore" and work "long hours at high intensity" to stay on at the company and asked them to respond to Google form committing to Musk's vision for "Twitter 2.0." If they didn't respond by the end of the business day on November 17, they would be laid off and given three months severance, Twitter said.
McSweeney said she didn't respond because of confusion related to her contract of employment, The Irish Times reported.
The day after the ultimatum's deadline, Twitter emailed McSweeney on her personal account, acknowledging her "voluntary resignation" and saying it accepted her severance package, she said. The company also locked her out of its systems, email, and Dublin office.
After her solicitors sent a letter to the company, Twitter's lawyers acknowledged that she hadn't intended to resign and said the company would restore her access to its systems, but failed to do so, McSweeney had claimed.
A High Court judge granted McSweeney a temporary injunction last Friday to stop Twitter from terminating her contract based on the ultimatum email.
Twitter's lawyers told the court on Wednesday that the company would restore McSweeney's access to its IT systems and Dublin office, per The Irish Times.
Lawyers for both Twitter and McSweeney didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on whether McSweeney had regained access.
Insider previously reported that fewer people committed to Twitter 2.0 than Musk and his team had expected, leading to the company's vice-presidents and Musk himself calling some "critical" workers in a desperate bid to persuade them to stay on. Since taking ownership of Twitter in late October, around three-quarters of the company's workforce has been laid off, fired, or has resigned.
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