*The Twitter employees’ mass action lawsuit alleges the company is eliminating workers without providing enough notice, in violation of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act in the United States

*Move planned to ‘reduce global workforce as an effort ‘to place Twitter on a healthy path’, say Management

Gbenga Kayode | ConsumerConnect

By excommunicating the global tech giant’s staff, Elon Musk’s Twitter, as expected, has begun the process of sacking about half of its 7,500 workers in earnest.

ConsumerConnect learnt the Twitter Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) has cut the affected employees’ access to their laptops, e-mails and internal Slack channels in the company.

While anticipating the mass layoffs, employees filed a class-action lawsuit against the company, accusing it of violating US law by not giving them enough notice before giving them the boot.

Attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan filed the lawsuit on behalf of the company’s staff.

Recall the world’s richest man and CEO of Tesla cum SpaceX recently completed the $44billion transaction and acquired the microblogging site and leading social media platform with the headquarters in San Francisco, United States (US).

Twitter faces class-action lawsuit over mass layoffs

Twitter was sued Friday, November 4, 2022, citing a class-action lawsuit filed in a San Francisco federal court.

The employees’ action resulted from Musk’s plan to lay off about half of its workforce, reports Bloomberg.

Excommunicating the staff

Twitter staff received an e-mail saying that the company would alert employees by 9 a.m. Pacific Time (9.30 p.m. IST) Friday about whether they had been laid off.

The company’s e-mail stated: “In an effort to place Twitter on a healthy path, we will go through the difficult process of reducing our global workforce on Friday.”

Allegations against Big Tech

The employees’ lawsuit alleged that the company was eliminating workers without providing enough notice, in violation of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, a US Federal law that requires employers to provide advance notice to employees affected by plant closings and mass layoffs.

The lawsuit also sought a court order requiring Twitter to obey the WARN Act, and prevent it from asking employees to sign any documents that would take away their right to participate in litigation, report noted.

Employees disconnected, locked out

Besides, several Twitter employees Friday took to the platform, saying they had lost access to their laptops, e-mails and internal Slack channels. The hashtag #Lovewhereyouworked began trending on Twitter soon after, according to report.

The company’s e-mail also disclosed that Twitter offices would be temporarily closed and badge access suspended.

The e-mail said: “If you are in an office or on your way to an office, please return home.”

Commenting on the day’s experience, Simon Balmain, who had worked as a Senior Community Manager at Twitter, said: “Looks like I’m unemployed y’all. Just got remotely logged out of my work laptop and removed from Slack.

“#OneTeam forever. Loved you all so much. So sad it had to end this way.”

Twitter offline for some Friday, November 4

Meanwhile, Twitter was down for several users on Friday, with many reporting problems with the site.

Users of the social media platform said when they tried to log in, they were greeted by a message that read: “Something went wrong, but don’t worry – try again.”

It was gathered the Web site Downdetected stated that 92 percent of complaints were about issues with the Web site, while just 6 percent were to do with the app.

Advertisers press pause Amid the current chaos at the Big Tech, several companies have stopped placing ads on the platform until they get a clearer idea of Musk’s plans, report noted.

General Mills Inc, Friday affirmed that it’s said Simon Balmain, who had worked as a senior community manager at Twitter, temporarily pausing advertising on Twitter, joining Volkswagen AG’s Audi and General Motors in rethinking their presence on the platform.