Elon Musk has lost a legal battle over unpaid severance to a former Twitter (now X) employee who was fired following the billionaire’s acquisition of the platform in 2022. The case, settled through arbitration, is a significant development for thousands of former employees with similar complaints.
The resolution of the dispute comes nearly two years after Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion and subsequently laid off more than half of the company’s workforce. More than 2,000 former employees filed complaints alleging they did not receive adequate severance pay, according to a memo obtained by Bloomberg.
“The arbitrator awarded our client a full severance package,” attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan said in the memo. “We are excited by this development and hope it signals more good news in the future.” The attorney did not comment further or share any details about the arbitrator’s decision because the proceedings are private.
This legal defeat follows a separate case in July, in which Elon Musk’s company managed to defeat a lawsuit alleging it was owed more than $500 million in severance payments to about 6,000 employees under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
Lawyer Liss-Riordan said 15 cases have gone through mediation hearings, and they expect more verdicts in the coming months. “We hope that if we get more verdicts in our favor, Twitter/X will be willing to negotiate and reach a settlement that’s fair to all,” he said.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s company X is facing another legal battle in Brazil, where the Supreme Court has ordered the platform to suspend service or pay fines of more than $900,000 per day. The company was banned last month but access was restored for a time, which the Brazilian government said was a deliberate violation of a court order. X defended the restoration as “unintentional and temporary,” but the court disagreed.
Brazil’s Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes criticized X for “illegally, persistently and deliberately” failing to comply with judicial orders. In response, the court imposed a daily fine and ordered telecommunications agency Anatel to ensure the platform’s suspension.
X has also appointed a new legal representative, Rachel de Oliveira Conceição, in compliance with local laws. The company lost its legal status in Brazil in August when it closed its offices in the country, leading to a court order to suspend its services.
