In a press conference on Monday, renowned Los Angeles attorney Lisa Bloom announced that she is now representing three former Twitter employees in arbitration claims. She even went so far as to hold up a ceramic sink in reference to the odd joke that Musk made when he assumed control of the business in late October.
She addressed the public during a press conference that was broadcast online and held in her law offices, saying, “Elon, you broke your promises and you violated the law, we are going for you.” Allow that to sink in.
A Boston-based attorney has filed three lawsuits and claims with the National Labor Relations Board on behalf of three additional former Twitter employees, while a Fresh York-based attorney has threatened to file new arbitration claims on behalf of 22 ex-employees.
Given that Musk has fired more than half of the firm’s staff since he took over in late October, these collectively form a new legal front that the company must now fight.
Fundamentally, the main problem is that some workers claim they are not receiving the same level of severance and compensation as they did previous to the takeover, which includes bonuses and stock vesting. In addition, some employees received what Bloom referred to as a “illegal ultimatum” urging them to accept a three-month severance package if they weren’t willing to join Musk’s “hardcorе” team. According to Bloom, Twitter is allegedly in breach of the WARN Act, a federal labor regulation that mandates advance notice of termination before the employee leaves the organization. Twitter could be subject to fines of $500 per employee each day if proven to have broken this rule.
These attorneys assert that the corporation appears to be attempting to save tens or possibly hundreds of mιllιons of dollars in cash payments, bonuses, equity, vested stock, and other disbursements by ostensibly avoiding the WARN Act and other alleged wrongdoings.
A separate sacked Twitter employee filed a new complaint against the company with the NLRB on Thursday, claiming that he was let go for planning a walkout against the social media juggernaut on November 17 that ultimately didn’t happen.
The lawsuit claims that the “charging party reached out to numerous coworkers and pushed them to take part in the strike, and he assisted in compiling a “strike list.” “Shortly after engaging in these conduct, on November 14, 2022, charging party’s employment was terminated without cause or prior notice.”
The employee is the third such ex-Twitter employee to file a complaint with the NLRB since Musk’s takeover in late October; however, the name of the person was redacted in the document that his attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan provided with Forbes. In addition, Liss-Riordan has filed three more claims against Twitter, all of which were filed in the federal court in San Francisco, the city where Twitter is based.
She told Forbes, “We plan to hold him responsible and demonstrate to him that everyone is subject to the law and that even the richest guy in the world is not above the law.
In a scathing demand letter sent to Musk last week, New York-based attorney Akiva Cohen, who claims to represent 22 former Twitter employees and is in talks with hundreds more, warned the new CEO to “provide our clients with the full severance Twitter promised them” or risk facing numerous arbitration claims.
According to Cohen, who spoke to Forbes, “the whole thing is about avoiding paying severance payments to employees as he’s sending them out the door.”
According to the law, he cannot fire them before their separation date, according to Cohen. “It’s his fault, not their problem, that he can’t carry out his mass layoff for two months.”
Liss-Riordan agreed, calling Musk’s actions “very unique.”
Forbes’ request for comment received no response from Musk or Alex Spiro, Twitter’s acting general counsel.