When Elon Musk took over as the head of Twitter, he cut the number of employees by about 70 percent. Many employees were fired without any clear justification, but one decided to challenge Musk’s decision in court. As a result, Twitter has now been ordered to pay him a hefty fine for unfair dismissal. Twitter has been ordered to pay Gary Rooney, a former senior employee at its European headquarters in Ireland, more than €550,000, which is about Rs 5 crore, following a ruling that he was unfairly dismissed. The case arises from Rooney’s departure following Elon Musk’s acquisition of the social media platform.

Musk pushed for Twitter 2.0 after taking over the company in October 2022. Musk sent an email to all employees outlining a new, demanding work environment he called “Twitter 2.0”. He urged employees to commit to working long hours with high intensity, and asked them to click “yes” on a link in the email if they agreed to the new terms. Those who did not respond were informed that they would be considered to have resigned and would receive three months of severance pay.

Rooney, who had been with Twitter since 2013 and held the position of director of “source-to-pay” in Dublin, did not click “yes” on the link. Three days later, on November 19, 2022, he received an email from Twitter stating that his resignation had been accepted and that his access to the company’s systems had been disabled. Rooney contested this, insisting that he never intended to resign and did not accept any severance offer. He expressed his surprise at the situation in a communication to the company a week later.

Rooney’s case was brought before Ireland’s Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), where he gave evidence during a five-day hearing. He explained that he was initially cautious about Musk’s email, fearing it might be spam or malware. Rooney also expressed dissatisfaction with the direction of Twitter under Musk’s leadership, indicating that the new environment was not a good fit for him.

The WRC ruled in Rooney’s favour, stating that it was unfair to give employees 24 hours’ notice to make such a significant decision. The fine of €550,131, the largest of its kind in Ireland, compensates Rooney for his lost income from January 2023 to May 2024, as well as estimated future losses. Rooney’s lawyer stressed that the ruling sends a strong message that large companies, including those led by influential people such as Musk, cannot treat employees in Ireland unfairly. When contacted for comment, Twitter replied: “Busy right now, please check back later.”