Ex-workers said Musk failed to honor severance plan when he fired them after acquiring social media platform in 2022
Elon Musk and his social media platform, X, reached a tentative settlement on Wednesday with former Twitter employees after a years-long legal battle over severance pay. Former staff had sought $500m in a proposed class action suit against the billionaire.
A court filing released on Wednesday stated that both parties had reached a settlement agreement in principle and requested that a scheduled 17 September hearing in the case be postponed while they worked to finalize a deal. The filing did not disclose any details of the tentative agreement and it is unclear what level of compensation that former employees may receive.
Former Twitter employees, led by Courtney McMillian and Ronald Cooper, alleged that the company failed to appropriately pay thousands of workers severance after conducting mass layoffs. When Musk acquired Twitter in 2022, he cut more than 6,000 employees in an overhaul of the company’s workforce, slashing almost the entirety of departments such as content moderation and communications. The layoffs led to several lawsuits, some ongoing, from staff and executives, and foreshadowed how Musk’s “department of government efficiency” would approach its gutting of government agencies earlier this year.
