A former Twitter employee has reportedly received a 550,000 euro (equivalent to about $600,000) settlement after being fired for refusing to comply with Elon Musk’s demands of a “super hardcore” work culture.
The Guardian reported that Gary Rooney, who works at Twitter’s European headquarters in Dublin, told Ireland’s Workplace Relations Commission that the company had failed to respond positively to the infamous email.
In November 2022, less than a month after completing the $44 billion acquisition of the platform, Musk emailed employees, demanding that they commit to a “very hardcore” pace of work to develop a “new Twitter” or he would resign.
“This means working long hours and high intensity hours. Only exceptional performance will pass,” the billionaire, who renamed the company X the following year, said in an email.
The email also instructed employees to click “yes” in a provided link to opt-in to the “new Twitter.” Employees who failed to do so by the next day would be paid a severance package equivalent to three months’ salary.
The Guardian reported that the company emailed Rooney three days later, informing him that his “decision to resign and accept his offer of voluntary redundancy” had been approved. Rooney later denied resigning in a response to the company, but Twitter argued that his failure to click “yes” amounted to resignation, as reported by the Irish Examiner.
According to a report by The Guardian, Rooney testified that he was hesitant to open the email because he suspected it might be malicious software. A Workplace Relations Commission examiner found that Musk’s 24-hour deadline to comply with the request was not a reasonable notice period.
“The watershed moment”: Mass exodus from Twitter
Looney testified during the five-day WRC hearing in Dublin that he loved his job before Musk bought Twitter, and expressed disbelief and horror when he first received the “Fork in the Road” email, suspecting it was spam or malware.
“For my own good I need to resign. I am deeply troubled by what is going on here,” he told a colleague on the company’s internal messaging system. In another message, Rooney predicted, “Twitter 2.0 will not be for you and me.”
A spokesperson for Ireland’s Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment told Business Insider that the ruling in the case was handed down on Monday, but will not be made public until August 26th to give both parties time to fully consider it.
Lauren Wegman, Twitter’s senior director of people analytics, said Musk sent a “crossroads” email to employees in Ireland who were not affected by the initial 140 layoffs. Of the 270 recipients, 235 chose to leave the company.
Wegman explained that the resignations of the remaining 35 employees who did not accept the “fork in the road” proposal had been accepted. Wegman said the workforce was divided, with some employees embracing the “Twitter 2.0” vision while others chose to leave due to negative feelings.
Rooney wins big over Mask
In a 73-page decision, WRC arbitrator Michael McNamee ruled that the 24-hour notice period was insufficient and dismissed Looney’s concerns about Musk’s acquisition as unrelated to his firing.
The $60,000 compensation for unfair dismissal is an Irish record and is made up of $38,500 in Rooney’s lost pay between January 2023 and May 2024, plus $22,000 in estimated lost future pay.
Mr Rooney’s lawyer, Barry Kenny, said he welcomed “the clear and unequivocal verdict that my client did not resign but was unfairly dismissed, despite his excellent record of service and long-standing contribution to the company”.
“It is unacceptable for Mr. Musk, or any major company in this country, to treat their employees in this way. This record-breaking award reflects the seriousness and gravity of this case,” he said.
This is not the first time Musk has come under fire for firing an employee under controversial circumstances: Last year, former Twitter executive Esther Crawford was fired after gaining notoriety for sleeping on the office floor to meet deadlines.
Crawford later criticized Musk’s leadership style in a 14-minute video, calling him lacking empathy and relying too much on intuition. Musk’s history of high-profile firings at X, and the record-breaking wrongful termination judgment against Looney, have shed new light on the company’s hiring practices.
It remains to be seen whether Looney’s big win will affect Musk’s stance on laying off employees.