A trio of ex-Twitter employees are suing the Elon Musk-led company, alleging the billionaire “job killer” withheld promised severance pay after a sweeping round of layoffs .
The former employees — Helen Sage-Lee, Adrian Trejo Núñez, and Amir Shevat — have approached prominent attorney Lisa Bloom and filed individual arbitration claims against Twitter.
Former workers have accused Musk of overseeing a brutal layoff process that culminated in a layoff plan that didn’t match what was promised before the billionaire bought out.
“I’m here today because Twitter is trying to get rid of the full severance pay that was promised to us before it bought us all,” Sage-Lee said at a press conference on Monday. “Elon, you believe Twitter 2.0 is the Twitter you want to create. I disagree. Twitter 2.0 is the half you fired.”
“Many of us are prepared to take legal action,” Sage-Lee added.
The Post reached out to Twitter for comment.
Twitter laid off nearly half of its 7,500 global workforce in early November as Musk laid out a plan to cut costs. Among the employees affected by the layoffs were several months pregnant.
On November 4, Musk said that as part of Twitter’s downsizing, employees who lost their jobs “will be offered 3 months of severance, which is 50% more than the statutory amount.”
Bloom said Musk broke an “enforceable promise,” which would have required severance pay that matched what was offered under the previous administration. According to the lawyer, the laid-off workers are being “deprived” of lost benefits, including prorated bonus payments and stock options.
Musk’s Twitter provided a “lack of clarity” about severance benefits, including whether payments would continue if employees find new jobs, Bloom added.
At one point during the press conference, Bloom stood up and theatrically lifted a real sink out of a cardboard box — mirroring the one Musk tried to bring into Twitter’s corporate headquarters in late October before closing a $44 billion deal.
He said, “Now I have Twitter like it’s all a big joke,” Bloom said. “This was the beginning of the end of fair treatment for Twitter employees.”
Bloom described Musk as a “job killer” whose Twitter firings were “particularly brutal.” He added that his law firm represents “a large group of Twitter employees and contractors” who are filing lawsuits against Twitter.
“We will continue to file these cases one by one, bombarding Twitter with lawsuits,” Bloom added. He alleged that Twitter “tricked” its employees into signing onboarding agreements that prevented them from joining class-action lawsuits.
The arbitration claims are the latest sign of a legal storm surrounding Musk’s controversial Twitter takeover.
Last month, Twitter was hit with a lawsuit alleging Musk violated labor laws by failing to provide adequate notice before handing out pink slips.
Musk accepted the layoffs as part of a major overhaul of Twitter’s operations. Last month, he said the cuts were inevitable because Twitter was losing $4 million a day and facing bankruptcy without change.
Musk later demanded that remaining employees “opt in” to an agreement to adopt a strict work culture that includes long hours at the office. Hundreds more employees reportedly left the company after the ultimatum was handed down.
Meanwhile, Twitter added several “bedrooms” to its office to encourage employees to devote more time to work.
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