Elon Musk’s Twitter is currently facing its second lawsuit this month, filed by an ex-Twitter employee who worked as an engineer at the social media site. The lawsuit, filed by former senior engineer Chris Woodfield, alleges that Twitter displayed bias during layoffs, targeting older workers and failing to provide promised severance pay amounting to at least USD 500 million.
The lawsuit was filed in Delaware federal court and claims that Twitter informed its employees including Woodfield, who was working from Seattle, that they would receive two months’ salary and other payouts in case of layoffs. However, these payments were never made, leaving the workers empty-handed.
In a significant revelation, the lawsuit points out Twitter’s alleged discrimination against older employees during layoffs, which had not been previously brought to light. Woodfield asserts that he was fired from the company due to his age, although specific details about his age were not disclosed in the complaint.
Last week, another lawsuit was filed against Twitter in California federal court, making similar claims about the company’s failure to provide severance pay to its former employees amounting to over USD 500 million.
In a separate incident, former Twitter Africa employees, who were laid off approximately seven months ago by Elon Musk, recently came forward through a CNN report. They disclosed that they are yet to receive their severance pay. These employees, based in Accra, Ghana, agreed to a settlement that offered a severance package lower than what their counterparts in other locations received. Despite agreeing to the terms in late May, they have not received any payment from Twitter and claim to have been left in the dark, with no communication from the company.
Carla Olympio, the lawyer representing the ex-employees, revealed that Twitter and its lawyers have not been in touch with the employees since the severance settlement was agreed upon in May. Ghana’s ministry of employment and labor relations is currently looking into the matter.
