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“X” Didn’t Pay Severance. Now It’s Facing 2,200 Cases – and Big Fees

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Re: “X” Didn’t Pay Severance. Now It’s Facing 2,200 Cases – and Big Fees

#41

Post by MattGaiser »

JellyBeanThief wrote: post #34
Waterluvian wrote: post #22

It’s basically a scumbag move to try to wear the former employees down. I imagine Twitter will just stonewall for as long as they possibly can. What real consequences could the officers of the company actually face that would encourage them to behave like adults?

Give the plaintiffs significant shares in the company, transferred directly as a flat percentage from the other shareholders. You will find it very hard to reach C-suite level at any publicly company where you cost your shareholders that way. And since it would constitute a violation of fiduciary duty, executives would be able to defend themselves when they take action to avoid that happening.

Given that it is a private company, would those share be meaningfully valuable? Plenty of ways to screw minority shareholders in private markets.

Re: “X” Didn’t Pay Severance. Now It’s Facing 2,200 Cases – and Big Fees

#42

Post by revscat »

janalsncm wrote: post #30
Waterluvian wrote: post #22

It’s basically a scumbag move to try to wear the former employees down. I imagine Twitter will just stonewall for as long as they possibly can. What real consequences could the officers of the company actually face that would encourage them to behave like adults?

How about prison time for executives who use the legal system in bad faith? Refusing to pay is not permissible.

This is America. Wage theft rarely gets punished, if ever.

Re: “X” Didn’t Pay Severance. Now It’s Facing 2,200 Cases – and Big Fees

#43

Post by ritebut »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #25

When do they start straight up garnishing X's bank accounts? This behavior is so shitty, indefensible and beyond absurd. I think we need stronger laws that force billionaires to pay when they think the rules just don't apply to them - it's clear they often feel that the sheer expense of the legal system is often a deterrent for poorer folks to get what they are owed. I hope all these folks get their severance, and ho…

Of course when the shoe is on the billionaires foot, the workers are immoral: https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2023/05/16/elon-musk-work-from-home...

Our culture is joke, bleating about how free we are. Some freedom from a mathematical minority would be nice.

We need term limits on all forms of social influence.

Re: “X” Didn’t Pay Severance. Now It’s Facing 2,200 Cases – and Big Fees

#44

Post by dragonwriter »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #25

When do they start straight up garnishing X's bank accounts? This behavior is so shitty, indefensible and beyond absurd. I think we need stronger laws that force billionaires to pay when they think the rules just don't apply to them - it's clear they often feel that the sheer expense of the legal system is often a deterrent for poorer folks to get what they are owed. I hope all these folks get their severance, and ho…

> When do they start straight up garnishing X’s bank accounts?

Well, they have to lose the cases before people can start enforcing judgements.

Re: “X” Didn’t Pay Severance. Now It’s Facing 2,200 Cases – and Big Fees

#46

Post by TulliusCicero »

janalsncm wrote: post #30
Waterluvian wrote: post #22

It’s basically a scumbag move to try to wear the former employees down. I imagine Twitter will just stonewall for as long as they possibly can. What real consequences could the officers of the company actually face that would encourage them to behave like adults?

How about prison time for executives who use the legal system in bad faith? Refusing to pay is not permissible.

Sorry, wage theft is done by people in corporations, therefore it doesn't count as real theft, so going to jail for it is almost impossible.

If you wanna get away with a crime, do it in a company.

Re: “X” Didn’t Pay Severance. Now It’s Facing 2,200 Cases – and Big Fees

#47

Post by ip26 »

ttul wrote: post #28

I’m not an employment lawyer, but it seems these former employees have a decent shot. They will eventually win their severance in court. But will they ever be paid? By the time they win, will “X” even exist in its current corporate form? Or will it have gone bankrupt, only to have its assets purchased, leaving the employees standing in line with all the other creditors. Indeed, I wonder whether Elon Musk structured t…

Is he known for plotting financial exploits like that? He certainly isn’t playing to make friends, but I’m not sure we’ve seen that kind of thing out of him before.

Re: “X” Didn’t Pay Severance. Now It’s Facing 2,200 Cases – and Big Fees

#48

Post by upon_drumhead »

eek2121 wrote: post #29
xienze wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Article is not clear. For instance: > In October, shortly after taking Twitter’s reins, Musk laid off more than half of its employees, promising most at least two months’ salary plus a week’s pay for every year they’d worked at the firm. Key word here is the severance was promised to “most”, not “all” employees. Was that how it went down? I dunno, the article doesn’t say. Now you’re saying that no one was paid severa…

So, another comment detailed other legal aspects, I'll tackle the "most" part. Even if no other contract exists, that means at least 50.1% of all laid off employees should receive some type of severance. Said severance can be anywhere from a penny to millions. We don't know what went down. Musk could have actually paid 50.1% (or greater) employees severance. It doesn't matter, because in the U.S. you can sue anyone e…

Courts are a little more complicated than you are giving them credit for.

For example, federal courts can dismiss a case due to lack of standing in sua sponte (Frank v Gaos).

While you can file any sort of insanity, the courts are not beholden to just robotically follow though with it.

Re: “X” Didn’t Pay Severance. Now It’s Facing 2,200 Cases – and Big Fees

#49

Post by lucasyvas »

dragonwriter wrote: post #44
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #25

When do they start straight up garnishing X's bank accounts? This behavior is so shitty, indefensible and beyond absurd. I think we need stronger laws that force billionaires to pay when they think the rules just don't apply to them - it's clear they often feel that the sheer expense of the legal system is often a deterrent for poorer folks to get what they are owed. I hope all these folks get their severance, and ho…

> When do they start straight up garnishing X’s bank accounts? Well, they have to lose the cases before people can start enforcing judgements.

X is not paying their bills either from the sounds of it. Musk should be on the streets already.

Re: “X” Didn’t Pay Severance. Now It’s Facing 2,200 Cases – and Big Fees

#50

Post by wombat-man »

Waterluvian wrote: post #22

It’s basically a scumbag move to try to wear the former employees down. I imagine Twitter will just stonewall for as long as they possibly can. What real consequences could the officers of the company actually face that would encourage them to behave like adults?

I think lawyers will be happy to push the issue forever. There's a big payout down the line here.
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