By Raul Rodriguez Cota
Sep 12, 2024, 11:42 AM EDT
Gary Rooney, a former Twitter employee, won a $600,000 lawsuit because the company thought he had resigned when he failed to respond to an email.
This issue arose after Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022 and put stricter rules on employees, giving them an ultimatum.
In the email Musk sent, he told employees that if they wanted to continue working on the “new Twitter 2.0” (i.e., the new way the company would be run), they had to click on a link before a deadline.
Those who did not click on the link would receive three months of severance pay.
Gary Rooney, who was a director in Twitter’s Dublin office, did not click on the link.
Twitter took this as a sign that he had decided to quit.
However, Rooney filed a complaint with Ireland’s Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), saying he had never said he wanted to resign and that he thought Musk’s email was spam.
The WRC ruled in Rooney’s favour, determining that the 24-hour notice given by Twitter was unreasonable.
As a result, he was awarded €550,131 euros (approximately $607,802) for lost wages and future compensation.
His lawyer, Barry Kenny, called the ruling a clear message that no company, including large ones like Twitter, can treat its employees this way.
“I applaud the clear and unequivocal conclusion that my client did not resign from his employment, but was wrongfully terminated from his job, despite his excellent employment record and his contribution to the company over the years,” Kenny said.
“It is not right for Mr Musk, or indeed any major company, to treat employees in this manner in this country. The award for the record reflects the seriousness and gravity of the case,” the lawyer added.
Company X, formerly Twitter, has not commented on the case so far.
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