Twitter Claims Work Order At Office, Not Discrimination Against Employees With Disabilities

Shannon LIss-Riordan, a lawyer for a former Twitter employee who picked up the company. (photo: Twitter @SLIssRiordan)

JAKARTA - Twitter Inc has asked federal judges in California to drop a class action lawsuit claiming Twitter CEO Elon Musk's order, requiring employees to return to the office and carry out a "high-intensity long working hour" has discriminated against workers with disabilities.

Twitter lawyers on Wednesday evening, December 21 filed a motion to drop the lawsuit last November, and said plaintiffs did not alleg that the company's actions were targeted at people with disabilities or had disproportionate impact on them.

Twitter dismissed about 3,700 employees in early November as a cost cut step by Musk, who acquired the company. While hundreds of other employees chose to resign after he asked staff to "work very hard" or stop.

The lawsuit claims ultimatum Musk violates American federal law for Disabilities (ADA), which requires employers to offer reasonable accommodation to workers with disabilities.

The two plaintiffs were technical managers who said they were each dismissed and fired last month. They claim that many Twitter employees with disabilities are forced to resign because they cannot return to the office and meet Musk's job demands standards.

The company in a lawsuit last Wednesday said workers who were laid off signed an agreement to mediate a legal dispute related to work and asked for claims to be sent to an arbitration court.

According to Twitter, another former employee, Dmitry Borodaenko, was unable to represent the working class because she was fired before Musk asked employees to work longer.

Shannon LIss-Riordan, the plaintiff's attorney, said that it was normal for defendants to try to stop these cases early.

"We will respond in due time, but we support these allegations and hope to hold Twitter and Elon Musk accountable for his sad treatment of employees over the past two months," he said.

The hearing is scheduled for Twitter's motion in April 2023.

The lawsuit is one of four pending lawsuits in the same court stemming from staff cuts at the company. Other cases accused Twitter of not giving employees and contractors advance notices about layoffs, failing to pay the promised severance pay, and disproportionately targeting women in layoffs.

Dozens of former Twitter employees filed a complaint against the company this week in an arbitration court that made similar claims.

Twitter denies violating a law requiring prior notification of layoffs and has not responded to other lawsuits.