Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter has been sued by the social media company’s employees alleging that the Tesla CEO has refused to pay their 2022 bonuses. According to a report, the former Chief Twit had promised to pay at least 50% of the Twitter employees’ target amounts as bonuses last year.
Notably, Twitter used to pay bonuses tot heir employees annually. However, since after Elon Musk took over in October 2022, workers who were employed until recently were refused to be paid. The social media company has traditionally set a target for its bonus plan, which is funded throughout the year and pays out at least 50% of the target annually, the lawsuit mentioned.
The class action lawsuit has been filed by Mark Shobinger who was appointed as Twitter’s senior director of compensation until last month. Shobinger has informed that he filed the lawsuit on behalf of current and former employees.
Elon Musk after he took over Twitter in October 2022 slashed the social media company’s workforce to almost half in a bid to do cost-cutting.
“Twitter refused to pay employees who remained employed by the company in the first quarter of 2023 any bonus,” Shobinger said in the report.
“Both before and after Musk’s acquisition was completed in October 2022, Twitter’s management continuously promised the company’s employees, including plaintiff, that their annual bonus for 2022 would be paid under the Bonus Plan,” the employees said in the lawsuit.
Since Elon Musk took over, Twitter has lost more than half its advertising revenue as brands stopped trusting the site to remove violent, pornographic and hateful content. Twitter also shed more than 75% of its employees, through layoffs and resignations. The site has been roiled by technical difficulties, including during a recent launch of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ campaign for president.
This is not the first time Twitter or Elon Musk has been sued. Since Musk’s acquisition, the company has been sued numerous times for allegedly failing to pay its bills, including rent, and by former employees for severance and back pay.
Elon Musk-owned Twitter is getting sued for a whopping $250 million for infringing on nearly 1,700 copyrights by the National Music Publishers’ Association. The association includes major music publishers including Sony Music, Publishing, BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing, and Warner Chappell.
