Elon Musk.Photo: Taylor Hill/Getty Images; Getty Images
Multiple Twitter employees have filed a class-action lawsuit against the company and its new owner,Elon Musk, stating that thelayoffs they’re facing under his ruleare in violation of labor laws.
The lawsuit was filed on Thursday in San Francisco federal court, PEOPLE confirms.
In it, employees are asking the court to issue an order that would require Twitter to follow theWorker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN), which helps ensure advance notice of at least 60 days for mass layoffs in large companies.
Employees are also asking the court to restrict Twitter from urging employees to sign documents that could give up their right to pursue legal action against the company.
Musk’s lawyers and representatives for Twitter did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.
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Twitter logo.Chesnot/Getty Images
Musk, 51, is set tobegin laying off Twitter employees on Friday,The New York Timesreported, citing a company-wide email that the outlet had obtained.
“In an effort to place Twitter on a healthy path, we will go through the difficult process of reducing our global work force,” the email said, per theTimes. “We recognize that this will impact a number of individuals who have made valuable contributions to Twitter, but this action is unfortunately necessary to ensure the company’s success moving forward.”
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“If your employment is not impacted, you will receive a notification via your Twitter email,” the email said, per CNN. “If your employment is impacted, you will receive a notification with next steps via your personal email.”
The email added that Twitter’s offices “will be temporarily closed and all badge access will be suspended,” in an effort “to help ensure the safety” of employees and Twitter overall, the outlet added.
After Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion last month, insiders told CNN that hefired CEO Parag Agrawal and two other executives.
Sources toldThe Washington Postthat along with Agrawal, Twitter’s head of legal policy, trust, and safety Vijaya Gadde, and CFO Ned Segal were all taken out of the building via shuttle after theywere terminated. Twitter’s general counsel Sean Edgett was also fired.
Various Twitter employees began posting on the social media network about being locked out of their company email accounts ahead of the planned layoff notification on Friday, CNN reported.
Online, many of those workers shared blue heart and salute emojis, as well as the “#LoveWhereYouWorked” hashtag.
source: people.com
