The case, brought on behalf of about 6,000 Twitter workers, alleged Elon Musk violated a federal law that governs benefit plans. U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson said ERISA did not apply to the severance program at issue but gave the plaintiffs the opportunity to refile using a different legal basis.
Thousands of Twitter employees fired after Elon Musk took control of the social media company in November 2022 are not entitled to $500 million in unpaid severance under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, a federal judge ruled.
Lead plaintiff Courtney McMillian, vice president of total rewards at Twitter before she was laid off in 2022, brought the case on behalf of about 6,000 employees terminated following Musk’s takeover.
