Since acquiring Twitter, Elon Musk has been mired in controversy. His latest scandal, according to former employees: not paying severance. Twitter’s Africa team was laid off to cut costs for the billionaire, but the team says he did not provide them with severance pay or benefits.
The team, based in Ghana’s capital Accra, was promised three months of severance pay when they signed their contract. However, after they were dismissed, the former employees say Musk
reneged on their agreement and ceased communication, CNN reports.Some former employees anonymously spoke to CNN about Musk’s mistreatment as they signed non-disclosure agreements.
“Although Twitter has eventually settled former staff in other locations, Africa staff have still been left in the lurch despite us eventually agreeing to specific negotiated terms,” one person said.
The team was initially hesitant to take severance pay without benefits as it was significantly lower that what other employees received. However, they eventually accepted.“Twitter was non-responsive until we agreed to the three months because we were all so stressed and exhausted and tired of the uncertainty, reluctant to take on the extra burdens of a court case so we felt we had no choice but to settle,” said another former staff member.
Now, the wronged party is seeking legal recourse against Musk, and is represented by attorney Carla Olympia. Olympia said the former employees have not received any contact from the social media company since May 2023, shortly after they reached a settlement.
Musk and Twitter representatives have yet to respond to the situation. Apparently all requests for additional information garner the same response—a poop emoji.
In March, Musk shared that this would be the standard response to all media inquiries.
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