People walk past the Twitter offices in Recent York City on January 12, 2023.
Angela Weiss | AFP | Getty Images
Twitter Inc has secured a ruling allowing the social media company to force several laid-off staff suing over their termination to pursue their claims via individual arbitration than a class-action lawsuit.
U.S. District Judge James Donato on Friday ruled that five former Twitter employees pursuing a proposed class motion accusing the corporate of failing to provide adequate notice before laying them off after its acquisition by Elon Musk must pursue their claims in private arbitration.
Donato granted Twitter’s request to force the five ex-employees to pursue their claims individually, citing agreements they signed with the corporate.
Twitter didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
The San Francisco judge left for an additional day “as warranted by developments within the case” whether your entire class motion lawsuit should be dismissed, though, as he noted three other former Twitter employees who alleged that they had opted out of the corporate’s arbitration agreement have joined the lawsuit after it was first filed.
The lawyer who represents the plaintiffs, Shannon Liss-Riordan, said on Monday that she had already filed 300 demands for arbitration on behalf of former Twitter employees and would likely file a whole lot more.
Those staff all claim they’ve not received the complete severance package promised by Twitter before Musk took over. Some have also alleged sex or disability discrimination.
Last yr, Donato had ruled that Twitter must notify the hundreds of staff who were laid off after its acquisition by Musk following a proposed class motion accusing the corporate of failing to provide adequate notice before terminating them.
The judge said that before asking staff to sign severance agreements waiving their ability to sue the corporate, Twitter must give them “a succinct and plainly worded notice”.
Twitter laid off roughly 3,700 employees in early November in a cost-cutting measure by Musk, and a whole lot more subsequently resigned.
In December last yr, Twitter was also accused by dozens of former employees of assorted legal violations stemming from Musk’s takeover of the corporate, including targeting women for layoffs and failing to pay promised severance.
Twitter can also be facing not less than three complaints filed with a U.S. labor board claiming staff were fired for criticizing the corporate, attempting to arrange a strike, and other conduct protected by federal labor law.
