Twitter Inc. was accused of carrying out a “sham redundancy process” and threatened with lawsuits by UK staff targeted by mass firings following Elon Musk’s takeover of the social-media giant.
(Bloomberg) — Twitter Inc. was accused of carrying out a “sham redundancy process” and threatened with lawsuits by UK staff targeted by mass firings following Elon Musk’s takeover of the social-media giant.
Winckworth Sherwood LLP said Twitter had behaved “unfairly and without regard for English law” when it took moves to fire staff late last year by locking them out of company systems, according to a letter sent to the company on Monday and seen by Bloomberg News.
The London-based law firm is representing 43 of the approximately 180 affected UK employees. The firm said staffers plan to escalate their case to the Employment Tribunal, the UK labor court, if Twitter does not resolve the issues.
Musk laid off about half of Twitter’s more-than 7,000 employees on Nov. 4, just a week after taking control of the company as he scrambled to cut costs. The UK warning ratchets up legal pressure on the company, which is already facing a growing number of lawsuits in the US over labor challenges plus global regulatory scrutiny.
Under UK rules, companies must follow a strict, lengthy consultation requirement if they want to fire more than 20 employees. Firms are required to prove there are grounds to remove workers from their job.
But in the letter, the law firm said decisions about the staff’s employment were made unlawfully prior to the start of any fair process, which they learned about it in an “abrupt, insensitive and disorientating manner.”
Winckworth alleged the company was trying to conclude the process hastily and without consulting fairly, including scrapping a planned Town Hall with representatives of the staff to discuss concerns, according to the letter, which was first reported by the Financial Times.
Prospect, a UK union that represents tech workers, also wrote to the company on Monday to urge the company to pause its redundancy process, according to a letter seen by Bloomberg. Mike Clancy, the general secretary, said he was “appalled” at the way staff are being treated and alleged employees were being given an arbitrary date to sign their rights away to receive enhanced redundancy terms.
A message sent to Twitter’s press email wasn’t immediately returned. Twitter no longer has a public relations team. Winckworth asked for a response to its letter by Jan 13.
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