What's That Musk-y Smell? Twitter Layoffs And Lawsuit

 

Megalomaniac conspiracy peddler and the far right's new hate speech idol Elon Musk will begin layoffs this morning at his recently-acquired social media giant Twitter today, with notifications to the effected staff by email. As the layoffs begin, Twitter employees are pushing back at the arrogant Musk with a class action lawsuit alleging labor law violations:

"On Thursday night and into Friday morning, some Twitter employees began posting on the platform that they had already been locked out of their company email accounts ahead of the planned layoff notification. Some also shared blue hearts and salute emojis indicating they were out at the company, as well as #LoveWhereYouWorked, a past-tense play on a hashtag previously often used by Twitter employees.

The class action lawsuit filed Thursday alleges Twitter is in violation of the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act) after laying off some employees already.

The WARN Act requires that an employer with more than 100 employees must provide 60 days’ advanced written notice prior to a mass layoff “affecting 50 or more employees at a single site of employment.”

'Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, has made clear that he believes complying with federal labor laws is ‘trivial,’ Attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan, who filed the lawsuit, said in a statement to CNN. 'We have filed this federal complaint to ensure that Twitter be held accountable to our laws and to prevent Twitter employees from unknowingly signing away their rights.

Twitter had around 7,500 employees prior to Musk’s takeover." (our emphasis)

Musk, who threatened to cut 75% of Twitter's workforce recently, who paid a highly leveraged $44 million for Twitter last month, is widely acknowledged to have paid far in excess of Twitter's value. His announcement earlier this week that Twitter users would be charged at least $8 per month to receive the "blue check" validating the user's identity was mocked. 

Musk appears to be desperately trying to cut costs and drive up revenue to meet his financial obligations. The firings will only drive highly skilled staff to current competitors or to new ventures that would compete with Twitter. To cut him down through competition would be a wonderful sight.