X to pay €550k to employee fired for not replying to yes-or-resign ultimatum
Elon Musk's company X must pay €550,000 to former employee Gary Rooney for unfair dismissal, marking the largest compensation by Ireland's Workplace Relations Commission amid ongoing legal disputes post-acquisition.
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Elon Musk's company X (formerly Twitter) has been ordered to pay €550,000 (approximately $602,640) to a former employee, Gary Rooney, following an unfair dismissal case. The ruling by Ireland's Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) marks the largest compensation awarded by the agency to date. Rooney, who was in a senior procurement role and had been with the company since 2013, was dismissed in December 2022 after he did not respond to an email from Musk that required employees to either commit to new working conditions or resign. The WRC found that Rooney did not resign voluntarily, stating that failing to click "yes" on the email did not equate to resignation. The Commission criticized Musk's approach, emphasizing that such treatment of employees is unacceptable. This case is part of a broader trend of legal disputes following Musk's acquisition of the platform, which has seen numerous allegations regarding severance benefits and employee treatment. The WRC's ruling highlighted the chaotic communication environment during the transition of ownership. X has the option to appeal the decision within 42 days.
- X has been ordered to pay €550,000 to a former employee for unfair dismissal.
- The ruling is the largest compensation awarded by Ireland's Workplace Relations Commission.
- The employee was dismissed for not responding to an ultimatum email from Elon Musk.
- The Commission ruled that not clicking "yes" did not constitute resignation.
- This case is part of ongoing legal issues following Musk's acquisition of Twitter.
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18 commentsAs a tendency, Irish labour courts tends to find in favour of employees... but also tend to award relatively small compensation.
A headline making award is pretty rare. Judge must not be a Twitter fan.
As an employee in Germany, it sounds deranged to receive an email saying I have one day to completely change my work contract, or be fired from my job.
So Musk feels to be above contract law. The whole basis for law based commerce goes out of the window. Musk's world view is incredibly dangerous for a law based country.
This means €550k is a way to low number as punishment. It might be enough as restitution for the employee, but an additional, much stronger and personal punishment should be given to anyone who agreed with this way of working.
If you own a company, that comes with responsibility and if you shirk those responsibilities the law will come for you; as it should.
It's viable because Twitter/X controls the access to the audiences of their users - if you leave, you lose your network.
I'd like next gen social media platforms to allow transitions from one provider to another. While related, I think this is a different topic than centralized/federated.
With all the jockeying in the US, I wonder if this is a sign of more, meaningful, legal trouble to come.
I sure hope there is because the guy is in the running for most powerful man in history.
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X ordered to pay €550k to Irish exec fired after failing to respond to Musk mail
Twitter, now X, must pay €550,000 for unfair dismissal after misinterpreting a former executive's non-response to an email from Elon Musk as resignation, raising concerns about corporate communication practices.
Twitter ordered to pay record €550k to senior executive in Ireland
Twitter must pay €550,000 to former executive Gary Rooney for unfair dismissal, as the WRC ruled his non-response to an email did not constitute resignation, highlighting important employment law implications.
Ex-Twitter staffer wins $600K over Musk's click-yes-or-resign ultimatum
An Irish labor court ruled Elon Musk's 2022 email ultimatum to Twitter employees unfair, awarding Gary Rooney over $600,000 for dismissal. The decision may prompt further employee complaints.
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