Twitter Violates Contracts By Not Paying Bonuses Of Tens Of Millions Of Dollars, Federal Judge Decision

JAKARTA - A federal judge ruled that Twitter, which has now changed its name to X Corp, has violated the contract by not paying the tens of millions of dollars bonus promised to its employees, on Friday 22 December.

Mark Schobinger, who previously served as senior director of compensation on Twitter before leaving Elon Musk's company in May, sued Twitter in June, claiming a contract breach.

Schobinger's lawsuit states that before and after Musk bought Twitter last year, the company promised to provide a bonus of 50% of the employee's bonus target by 2022, but never made the payment.

In rejecting Twitter's request to dismiss the case, United States District Judge Vince Chhabria stated that Schobinger reasonably stated claims of contract violations under California law and that he was covered by a bonus plan.

"When Schobinger did what Twitter asked him to do, Twitter's offer to pay him a bonus became a binding contract under California law. And allegedly refusing to pay the bonus promised to Schobinger, Twitter violated the contract," the judge wrote.

X no longer has a media relationship office. The company has not responded to requests for comment regarding X's account outside of working hours.

Twitter's lawyers argued that the company was only making verbal promises that were not a contract, and that Texas law was supposed to regulate the case, according to Courthouse News, which first reported this ruling. The judge ruled that California law regulates this case and that "the opposing Twitter party all failed."

X has faced a number of lawsuits by former employees and executives since Musk bought the company and reduced more than half of its employees.

The lawsuits include various claims, including discrimination against older employees, women, and workers with disabilities, as well as failing to provide priors to massive termination. The company denies wrongdoing.