A California federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit accusing X, the social media service formerly known as Twitter, of excessively laying off older workers when Elon Musk bought the company last year.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston said Tuesday that John Zeman, the plaintiff in the proposed class-action lawsuit, has presented enough evidence to show that mass layoffs had a greater impact on older workers. impact, so the case can continue to be pursued.
Zeman claims, for example, that X fired 60 percent of its employees over 50 and nearly three-quarters of its employees over 60, compared with 54 percent of its under-50 employees.
Federal law prohibiting age bias in the workplace allows plaintiffs to make so-called “differential impact” claims in class actions, Earlston ruled, an issue that has divided courts.
The judge rejected claims that X deliberately targeted older workers for layoffs, but gave Zeman a month to file an amended lawsuit to flesh out that claim.
Zeman’s attorney, Shannon Liss-Riordan, said, “This decision confirms our arguments that the discrimination allegations can proceed.”
X did not respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit is one of a dozen that Company X faces over Musk’s decision to lay off about half of Twitter’s workforce starting last November.
The cases include allegations that X fired employees and contractors without prior notice, and that Musk ejected employees with disabilities by refusing to allow remote work and calling for employees to be more “hardcore.”
At least two lawsuits allege that the company owes former employees at least $500 million (roughly Rs 4,100 crore) in severance packages. Twitter has denied wrongdoing in those cases.
Liss-Riordan is also representing approximately 2,000 former Twitter employees in bringing similar legal claims against the company in arbitration.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
(This story was not edited by NDTV staff and was automatically generated from syndicated feeds.)
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