January 16, 2023
According to U.S. District Judge James Donato, five former Twitter employees pursuing a proposed class action against the company for failing to provide adequate notice before laying them off following Elon Musk’s takeover must pursue their claims in private arbitration.
Donato granted Twitter’s request that the five ex-employees pursue their claims on their own, citing contracts they signed with the company. The ruling suggests that laid-off employees suing for wrongful termination will file their claims individually rather than as part of a class-action lawsuit.
Following Musk’s takeover, former Twitter employees filed a number of lawsuits against the social media company, some of which claimed gender discrimination. Musk laid off approximately 3,700 employees as part of a cost-cutting strategy in early November, and hundreds more subsequently resigned.
According to Reuters, Donato’s decision to support Twitter was based on agreements signed by former employees with the company. Donatus also postponed a decision on whether the entire class action lawsuit should be dismissed until a later date “as warranted by developments in the case,” noting that three other former Twitter employees who claimed they had opted out of the company’s arbitration agreement had joined the lawsuit after it was first filed.
The sources for this piece include an article in Axios.
