The proposed class action, filed in San Francisco federal
court, claims Twitter in November laid off numerous workers employed by
staffing firm TEKsystems without the 60 days of advance notice required by US
and California law.
Five other cases are pending in the same court accusing
Twitter of violating those laws, targeting female workers for layoffs and
discriminating against employees with disabilities. Twitter has denied
wrongdoing.
Twitter laid off roughly 3,700 employees, or half its
workforce, in early November in a cost-cutting measure by Musk, who paid $44
billion to acquire the social media platform. Hundreds more employees
subsequently resigned.
Twitter and Maryland-based TEKsystems, named as a defendant
in the lawsuit, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Shannon Liss-Riordan, who represents the plaintiffs in all
of the cases, said in an email: "While Elon Musk seems to think he's
saving the company money by avoiding these obligations, we plan to show him
that not meeting his responsibilities can be a lot more costly."
Liss-Riordan said she also has filed complaints in private
arbitration on behalf of more than 1,700 former Twitter employees and
contractors who signed agreements to arbitrate legal disputes. She said workers
employed by TEKsystems did not sign arbitration agreements.
Liss-Riordan also represents workers who have filed
complaints against Twitter with a US labour board claiming they were fired for
criticizing the company, attempting to organize a strike, and other conduct
protected by federal labour law.
Twitter has not responded to those claims. © Reuters