Two women who lost their jobs at Twitter when billionaire Elon Musk took over have filed a federal lawsuit against the firm, saying that the sudden mass layoffs that occurred earlier this month unfairly affected women.
The discrimination action is the most recent of several legal challenges to Musk’s massive reduction of Twitter’s employment through layoffs and firings.
About half of the workforce was informed of their termination from employment on November 4, just days after the world’s richest man purchased the social media network for $44 billion (approximately Rs. 3,37,465 crore). Even though Twitter employed more men than women before the layoffs, a lawsuit filed this week in federal court in San Francisco contends that 57% of women were laid off compared to less than 50% of men.
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All surviving employees were given the option to resign with severance or sign a contract committing “very rigorous” effort, long hours, and loyalty to Twitter’s new direction, and layoffs continued throughout the month of November as Musk fired engineers who questioned or opposed him. Many more were fired because they refused to sign the commitment.
The lawsuit claims that this also disproportionately injured women since “they are more typically carers for children and other family members, and thus not able to comply with such demands.”
When the year began, San Francisco-based Twitter had around 7,500 employees around the world, according to a filing with securities regulators; however, as a private firm, it has not stated how many are still employed.
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For similarly situated women, former employees Carolina Bernal Strifling and Willow Wren Turkal filed a lawsuit late Wednesday, citing a spreadsheet to claim that 57% of female employees were laid off on November 4, compared to 47% of male employees. The plaintiffs are scheduled to speak about the lawsuit on Thursday.
A lawsuit filed by prominent Boston workers’ rights attorney and failed Democratic primary candidate for Massachusetts attorney general Shannon Liss-Riordan claims that the disparity is even greater for women in engineering-related roles, with 63% of women laid off compared to 48% of men with engineering roles.
Twitter’s mass firing “has impacted female employees much more than male employees — and to a highly statistically significant degree,” wrote Liss-Riordan. “Moreover, Elon Musk has made a number of publicly discriminatory remarks about women, further confirming that the greater impact on female employees during the mass firing resulted from discrimination.”
Before a hearing, Liss-Riordan told reporters outside the courthouse that she was there to prove that “the richest guy in the world is not above the law.”
We are claiming that the arbitration agreements (signed by Twitter employees) are not enforceable, but if we have to go through arbitration one case at a time, we are willing to do that,” Liss-Riordan said. “Musk and Twitter assume they’re never going to be held accountable in court.”
“Of all the problems Elon Musk is facing, this is the simplest to solve: treat the workers with respect, pay them what they deserve under the law, and they will treat you with respect in return.” “She continued.
The lawsuit is the latest example of an ex-Twitter employee fighting back after being let go, whether in the United States or elsewhere. They signed paperwork at the time of hire waiving their ability to participate in a class action lawsuit or to have their case heard by a jury. Thus, some employees are now filing claims in California’s arbitration system individually.
On Thursday, their lawyer Lisa Bloom wrote in an email, “As of today, we’ve filed five.” The sum keeps growing every day.
One of the company’s top executives in Ireland is suing to have her job back after she ignored Musk’s memo asking that all workers commit to “very rigorous” work or resign with severance compensation.
According to Irish media, Twitter’s worldwide VP of public policy, Sinead McSweeney, won a temporary injunction last week blocking the company from firing her. According to the reports, the corporation has informed the Irish High Court that its human resources department intends to enter into talks with McSweeney to address the matter.
McSweeney testified under oath that many people working at Twitter’s Dublin office “raised worries and uncertainty” after receiving Musk’s email.
McSweeney claims she was placed in an “impossible and exceptionally unfair and unjust position” where she had to choose between accepting a “unilateral alteration” in her terms of employment and being sacked through a “sham resignation.”
Twitter had assured her lawyers that their client’s employment was still active, so she and her lawyer attempted to return to the Dublin office. However, upon arrival, they discovered that her security pass was no longer activated. In order to make sure she was still employed, security claimed they needed to contact HR.
The situation left her feeling “utterly humiliated,” “extremely bewildered,” and “brought to tears in a public setting,” as she put it.
