Twitter again accused of legal violations during mass layoffs

Digital Desk: The latest action resulting from the social media giant's massive job layoffs, Twitter Inc. TWTR.MX was sued on Tuesday for allegedly illegally terminating contract workers without notice after Elon Musk acquired the business last year.

In the proposed class action, which was filed in federal court in San Francisco, it is alleged that Twitter fired a large number of employees who were working for the staffing company TEKsystems Inc. in November without providing the 60 days notice mandated by U.S. and California law.

In five other cases still proceeding in the same court, Twitter is charged with breaking these regulations, discriminating against employees with disabilities, and targeting female employees for layoffs. Infractions have been refuted by Twitter.

Early in November, Musk, who paid $44 billion to acquire Twitter, fired almost 3,700 workers, or half of its employees, as a cost-cutting move. Afterward, hundreds more workers left their jobs.

Requests for comment from Twitter and the defendant in the complaint, TEKsystems of Maryland, were not immediately fulfilled.

"Although Elon Musk seems to think he's saving the firm money by avoiding these obligations, we hope to show him that not meeting his responsibilities may be a lot more costly," Shannon Liss-Riordan, who represents the plaintiffs in all of the cases, wrote in an email.

According to Liss-Riordan, more than 1,700 former contractors and employees of Twitter who signed agreements to arbitrate legal disputes have also filed complaints in private arbitration. She claimed that none of the TEKsystems employees signed arbitration agreements.

Liss-Riordan also represents workers who have complained to a U.S. labour board about Twitter, claiming they were fired for making negative remarks about the business, seeking to organise a strike and other actions covered by federal labour law.

It is to be noted that Twitter has not responded to the allegations.