According to Bloomberg, Twitter has been sued because Elon Musk plans to cut about 3,700 jobs on the social media platform, accounting for half of its total workforce. Employees who say the company is laying off workers without sufficient notice violated U.S. federal and California law, and they filed a class-action lawsuit against Twitter in federal court in San Francisco.
In an email sent to employees, Twitter said the company plans to start laying off employees on Friday local time. Musk wants to cut costs at Twitter, the social platform he bought last month for $44 billion, people familiar with the matter said.
The U.S. federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act restricts large companies from making mass layoffs without at least 60 days advance notice. The class action seeks a court order requiring Twitter to comply with the act and restricting the company from requiring employees to sign documents that could waive their right to participate in the lawsuit.
Shannon Liss-Riordan, the attorney who filed Thursday’s complaint, said in an interview, “We filed this lawsuit tonight to make sure that employees are aware that they shouldn’t have to waive their rights and that they have an avenue to pursue their rights.”
Twitter did not currently respond to requests for comment.
Liss-Riordan also sued Tesla Inc. over a similar claim in June, when Elon Musk-led Tesla laid off about 10 percent of its workforce.
