The Irish work protection group has imposed a $600,000 fine on X/Twitter for an unjust termination.
In 2022, following his acquisition of Twitter, Elon Musk sent an email to the company’s staff. The email stated that employees must click a link labeled “Yes” within 24 hours to remain employed, otherwise they would be terminated and receive three months’ severance.
Gary Rooney, former director of “source-to-pay”, was terminated from his position at Twitter for failing to press the button.
The WRC attempted to summon the owner of X, but per Rooney’s account, both Musk and the company’s legal team refused to cooperate.
According to X, Rooney’s decision not to press yes was a conscious one. However, the defense was unsuccessful as the WRC determined that the 24-hour limit was insufficient and the chosen method of resignation was not viable in Ireland.
The WRC representatives determined that X had not supplied sufficient information, which included any proof of Rooney violating his contract.
The WRC discovered that Rooney was prepared to begin working, but was unable to access the facility after the deadline had passed.
After receiving a sum of $600,000, Rooney is currently employed at a bank. Meanwhile, Musk’s legal troubles have escalated following his acquisition of Twitter.
Musk’s legal woes mount up over at X
This is not the first instance where an employee’s dismissal from X has caused problems for the mogul. In 2022, Musk publicly attempted to humiliate a disabled worker without realizing.
Haraldur Thorleifsson, who had his company acquired by Twitter, remained under contract with a $100 million buyout clause in case of termination. Soon after, Elon Musk issued an apology for his feud with Thorleifsson, which had been reported on in 2023 by The Guardian.
After taking over the company, he installed a large illuminated X on the roof of the building. However, following 24 complaints from the city’s building department, it was eventually taken down.
In June 2023, an Australian watchdog issued a one-month deadline for X to address its problems with hate speech. In October of that same year, X was fined $610,500 for its failure to demonstrate effective measures against child abuse images.
In August 2023, Musk and X filed a lawsuit against an anti-hate speech group for allegedly scraping data without compensation. However, the case was dismissed in March 2024, as reported by BBC News.
During August of this year, Elon Musk and X CEO Linda Yaccarino filed a lawsuit against a group of advertisers for allegedly conspiring against them. In an attempt to avoid the legal action, the non-profit organization GARM decided to dissolve itself.
On August 13, the X owner interviewed former President Donald Trump on the app’s ‘spaces’ feature. The broadcast was tumultuous as Musk attributed outages to DDOS attacks.
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