Elon Musk.Photo: ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty
Elon Muskclaims he had no choice but to fire thousands of Twitter’s employees just days after he purchased the company.
On Thursday eveningTwitter employeeswere advised that their future at the company would be confirmed the following morning via email.
Now, Musk is speaking out about the decision on Twitter.
“RegardingTwitter’s reduction in force, unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day,” he wrote.
He added, “Everyone exited was offered 3 months of severance, which is 50% more than legally required.”
Earlier Friday, Musk claimed Twitter had suffered “a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we could to appease the activists.”
“Extremely messed up! They’re trying to destroy free speech in America,” he continued, ignoring that his critics and advertisers were also exercising their free speech.
Employees have since taken legal actionagainst the social media platform.
Multiple Twitter employees have filed a class-action lawsuit against the company and its new owner, stating that thelayoffs they’re facing under his ruleare in violation of labor laws.
The lawsuit was filed on Thursday in San Francisco federal court, PEOPLE confirms.
In it, employees are asking the court to issue an order that would require Twitter to follow theWorker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN), which helps ensure advance notice of at least 60 days for mass layoffs in large companies.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Employees are also asking the court to restrict Twitter from urging employees to sign documents that could give up their right to pursue legal action against the company.
Musk’s lawyers and representatives for Twitter did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment when contacted about the lawsuit.
source: people.com
