Judge Rules Against Former Twitter Employees Seeking Class Action After Getting Boot From Musk

Former employees seeking to collectively sue Twitter now have to do so individually after a California judge ruled against class action status.

Five employees were seeking to launch a class action effort, but U.S. District Judge James Donato ruled in favor of individual arbitration. The employees were part of significant layoffs made by Elon Musk after his purchase of Twitter. The plaintiffs claimed they were not given adequate notice.

Shannon Liss-Riordan, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs, claimed she’s filed hundreds of demands for arbitration from ex-Twitter employees and she expects to file hundreds more, Reuters reported. Some former employees allege they were not paid their full severance after leaving while others allege discrimination. Musk promised three months severance pay to employees let go from Twitter.

“Insisting that workers file claims one by one has backfired for many companies our firm has taken on,” the lawyer said in a statement after the ruling.

Musk laid off thousands of employees in November. Some have also fled the company in protest of his management of the social media platform.

Donato previously ruled in December that Twitter had to inform thousands of former employees about the potential class action lawsuit in the works. This was in an effort to better inform employees before they signed an agreement for severance pay that takes away their right to sue the company.

The judge’s latest ruling cited the agreement between the employees and Twitter, noting the employees failed to opt out of an arbitration agreement in their contracts.

“Twitter provided signed copies of the agreements, and they are all clear and straightforward,” the judge ruled.

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