Elon Musk's Email to Twitter Employees Ruled Illegal in Ireland, with Implications for Future Lawsuits

TapTechNews August 14th news, the Irish labor watchdog ruled on Monday that the email Elon Musk sent to employees after his acquisition of Twitter in 2022, asking them to 'click to agree' within 24 hours to keep their jobs or be regarded as voluntary resignation, was illegal.

The agency believes that the email not only did not give employees enough time to consider, and that employees not clicking 'agree' does not constitute a legal act of resignation. Instead, the court believes that the email aims to force employees either to agree to new employment conditions without looking at the terms or to voluntarily leave during Twitter's massive layoffs.

Elon Musk wrote in an all-staff email: 'In order to build a breakthrough Twitter 2.0 and succeed in the increasingly fierce competition, we need to work extremely hard. This means long hours and high-intensity work, and only excellent performance is qualified.'

This email named 'A Fork in the Road' urges employees: 'If you are sure you want to be a part of the new Twitter, please click the link below. Anyone who does not complete the operation before 5 p.m. Eastern Time tomorrow (Thursday) will receive a three-month severance package. No matter what decision you make, thank you for your efforts for the success of Twitter.'

The Irish public broadcaster RTÉ reported that the Irish Labour Relations Commission (WRC) adjudicator Michael McNamee ruled in a 73-page ruling that Twitter's sudden dismissal of Irish executive Gary Rooney was unfair. Rooney argued that his contract clearly stipulated that his resignation must be in writing, not by not filling out a form.

The agency ruled that Twitter (now renamed X) must pay Rooney more than $600,000 (TapTechNews note: currently about 4.293 million yuan), rather than the initially proposed less than $25,000 severance package. According to multiple media reports, this is the highest compensation record of the WRC, including about $220,000 for 'future expected income loss'.

The WRC rejected Rooney's claim for the 2022 performance bonus due, but basically agreed and supported his claim of unfair dismissal in other respects.

Rooney said that he had worked at Twitter for nine years and had once loved the job, but Musk's email did not clearly state the specific content of the new contract, leaving him at a loss. He was hesitant because he was worried that benefits and stock options might change after clicking agree.

Twitter tried to argue that Rooney's discussions on Slack and tweets about the email indicated that he intended to resign, but the court found these to be irrelevant to the case. The labor commission ruled that no employee in such a situation could be forced to unconditionally accept any proposal.

This incident is not an isolated case. After Musk's acquisition of Twitter, a large number of laid-off employees filed lawsuits. And Rooney's victory may trigger more similar lawsuits. Twitter can appeal the ruling of the Irish Labour Commission.