Does Musk Have An Attorney?

Elon Musk issued an ultimatum to Twitter employees Wednesday morning: Commit to a new “hardcore” Twitter or leave the company with severance pay.

Employees were told they had to a sign a pledge to stay on with the company. “If you are sure that you want to be part of the new Twitter, please click yes on the link below,” read the email to all staff, which linked to an online form.

Anyone who did not sign the pledge by 5 p.m. Eastern time Thursday was told they would receive three months of severance pay, the message said.

In the midnight email, which was shared with The Washington Post, Musk said Twitter “will need to be extremely hardcore” going forward. “This will mean working long hours at high intensity,” he said. “Only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade.”

The pledge email, paired with a new policy mandating a return to the office, is expected to lead to even more attrition at a company whose staff Musk had already reduced by half.

This is illegal.

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windinhishair · 61-69, M

It is illegal, but there is an elegant solution. I had a similar situation where my company told us that working past that Friday would mean that we accept unilateral employment terms, including arbitration with an arbitor of their choice should there be any lawsuits regarding employment in the future, and that we would otherwise be subject to termination at any time. I simply told them, in writing, that I was agreeing to their unilateral terms, under economic duress. A contract is not a legal contract if it is made under duress, and I can't think of anything that would constitute greater duress than being threatened with losing ones job. So the Twitter employees should sign the pledge and make it clear they are doing so under economic duress. If they are later terminated, they can justifiably claim that the "contract" was clearly made under duress and is not a legal contract.

Northwest · M

@windinhishair I am going for something more basic, the contract would be illegal under CA law.

windinhishair · 61-69, M

@Northwest Elon is in deep do-do.

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

I am no expert in US labour (labor) law but this is probably illegal on a few levels. The implied working hours, breach of contract, severance pay etc.

He is such a horrible man and I dislike him more every day. He seems certain to fail with Twitter but will probably ruin many lives and careers as the ship goes down with him.

Northwest · M

@Burnley123 There are US labor laws, and then specific state laws. In the state of California, you can never ask someone during an interview, if they would work overtime. Additionally, and even if they're on salary basis, you can offer employees overtime work, but they're not obligated to take it. You're also obligated to pay them 50% extra, and after a certain number of hours, it's double.

I see a class action lawsuit in Musk's future.

This soft of stuff happens all the time in the startup space. When I was part of a startup, eons ago, I often slept, and showered at the office, but no one asked me the overtime question, while interviewing and I was warned by HR, never to ask a potential employee. The difference is, no one makes that demand in writing.

Tweet of the day: People are starting to day Musk is not a real engineer. But he definitely said "I don't know why people think Twitter is so complicated. I could fix in like a weekend." And proceeded to fuck everything up. That's exactly like an engineer.

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@Northwest I predict that some of the lawsuits he has to fight will last longer than Twitter.

Northwest · M

@Burnley123 You're probably right. He may be stubborn enough to shell out $1B per year (what Twitter owes the banks that financed the deal), until kingdom come, but the group he convinced to join him, to put up collateral to secure the financing, will also want a return on their investment, and Elon is going to have a lot of explaining to do.

DeWayfarer · 61-69, M

You're very correct under California state laws this is illegal.

Problem is there's only 125 people located in San Francisco. The other six offices across the country is the problem! 🤷🏻‍♂️

If push comes to shove he can do what he did with Tesla and move out of California all together. Texas is a bigger state land area wise. And very little regulation. In fact a right to work state. This is totally legal in Texas.

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DeWayfarer · 61-69, M

@Northwest well I know Texas he can practically fire on the spot without notification. Yet even there he doesn't need to fire. Just say you're not needed. That's all he has to say.

Unions are slightly different yet he doesn't have any unions in his own companies.

Northwest · M

@DeWayfarer Not talking about firing. Most tech has "at will" employment contracts. I'm talking about making people work overtime without pay.

DeWayfarer · 61-69, M

@Northwest I don't see the "without pay" in your original post. Even federal laws are applicable in that case. Yet the second opinion is still valid.

He doesn't need to say your fired, just "your not needed" which is not considered firing in Texas!

The right to work laws make that an option available, since he has no unions in his companies, like Tesla... Austin BTW!

metaldog

I'd get out asap

SatyrService · M

time for a fast union

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