San Francisco Judge Rules Twitter Requires Announcement to Employees 60 Days Before Mass Layoffs

Shannon LIss-Riordan (left), the plaintiff's attorney and rights defender of Twitter employees. (photo: wtitter @SLIssRiordan)

JAKARTA - A San Francisco federal judge has ruled that Twitter Inc must notify thousands of its laid off workers, following its acquisition by Elon Musk, about a proposed class action accusing the company of failing to provide sufficient notice before terminating them,

US District Judge James Donato in a three-page order on Wednesday, December 14 said that before requiring workers to sign a severance agreement that waives their ability to sue the company, Twitter must provide them with "short and clear notice" of the lawsuit filed last month.

Former Twitter employees hold press conference ahead of hearing https://t.co/rb7U5Xaonc

— Shannon Liss-Riordan (@SLissRiordan) December 8, 2022

Twitter laid off some 3.700 employees in early November in a cost-cutting move by Musk, and hundreds more later resigned.

The lawsuit says Twitter failed to provide the 60 days notice required by federal and California law prior to mass layoffs. But Twitter has denied any wrongdoing.

Donato in the ruling said asking workers to waive lawsuits against Twitter without notifying them of the lawsuits would be misleading.

Twitter has agreed not to seek relief from laid-off workers pending Donato's decision.

Shannon Liss-Riordan, attorney for the plaintiffs, called the decision a "basic but important step that will give employees an opportunity to better understand their rights instead of just signing off."

Twitter did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters about the ruling.

Twitter previously argued that notification was unnecessary because most of its employees had entered into agreements requiring them to take legal disputes to arbitration and waived their ability to join class action against the company.

Donato is scheduled to hold a hearing next month on Twitter's motion to send the case to arbitration. The plaintiffs changed their complaint this month to add workers who say they never signed an arbitration agreement.

Twitter faces three other class action lawsuits in the same court over the layoffs. The lawsuits allege Twitter failed to provide contract workers with notice before terminating them and discriminated against women and employees with disabilities. The company has not yet responded to the claims.

Liss-Riordan, who is involved in all the lawsuits, said she could file additional employment claims against Twitter, including if the company refuses severance pay to laid-off workers.

He also said last week that he would defend workers if Musk followed through on reported threats to sue employees who leaked confidential information to the press.