When Yao Yue spoke up agains X’s return-to-work policy, little did she expect to be fired. Yue, who was a principal software engineer at X, filed a case alleging that Elon Musk’s social-media company had terminated her from the job simply because she dared to challenge the firm’s return-to-work mandate.
She had tried to gather together co-workers who disapproved of the return-to-work policy mandated by Musk along with other policy changes post takeover of Twitter (now X).
The US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled that X has gone against the National Labour Relations Act, as per which all employees in the private sector have a fundamental right to demand better work conditions without fear of any retaliation.
Among several directives, Musk had made it clear that action would be taken against managers who falsely state that a team member reporting them is performing exceptionally well or states that a certain role is indispensable. Musk had been very strict with his demand for the physical presence of workers at office. At the time, he had clearly said that those who refrain from coming to the physical office when they are physically fit to do so may given in their resignations right away. This had led to a lot of backlash from the employees.
Following these statements from Musk. Yue had apparently told her co-workers on Twitter to not tender their resignations but wait for Musk to fire them. Soon after, she was fired.