Wat-Not Staff
X (formerly Twitter) has been ordered to pay ₹5 crore to Gary Rooney, a former employee, for unfair dismissal. Rooney, who was fired after refusing to agree to Elon Musk’s new work model, contested his termination, leading to the largest compensation award by Ireland’s Workplace Relations Commission.
X Ordered to Pay ₹5 Crore for Unfair Dismissal
X (formerly Twitter) has been ordered to pay ₹5 crore (550,000 euros) to a former employee, Gary Rooney, who was unfairly fired in December 2022 after Elon Musk took over the company.
Rooney, who worked for Twitter’s Ireland office since 2013, received this compensation following a ruling by Ireland’s Workplace Relations Commission. This amount is the largest ever awarded by the agency.
When Elon Musk took over Twitter in October 2022, he introduced a new work model called “Twitter 2.0.”
He sent an email to all employees, asking them to agree to work long hours and with high intensity by clicking “yes” on a link. If they didn’t respond, they would be considered to have resigned and receive three months’ severance pay.
Rooney, who had been with Twitter since 2013 and worked as the director of “source-to-pay” in Dublin, did not click “yes.” Three days later, on November 19, 2022, he got an email saying his resignation was accepted, and his access to company systems was removed.
Rooney was shocked and contested this decision, stating he never intended to resign and had not agreed to any separation offer.
Elon Musk Acquisition on Twitter
Elon Musk bought Twitter and made it private, merging it into a new company called X Corp. He fired several top executives, including the former CEO, Parag Agrawal, and laid off half the staff.
Many employees left after Musk demanded they commit to very demanding work. Linda Yaccarino was named the new CEO of X Corp, and in July 2023, Twitter was rebranded as X.
People had mixed reactions to the buyout. Some praised Musk’s plans for reforms and his focus on free speech, while others worried about potential increases in misinformation, harassment, and hate speech.
Conservatives generally supported the acquisition, but many liberals and former Twitter employees were concerned about Musk’s actions and his handling of account suspensions, including the suspension of ten journalists in December 2022.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings