Former Twitter employee wins $600,000+ for Elon Musk's 24-hour email ultimatum

Following Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter and its conversation into the social media platform that is now called X, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO cleaned house, reducing the overall headcount at the company by at least 70%.

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During that time, which was in November of last year, employees were going through a tumultuous time with rounds of firings, employees being locked out of offices, and company-wide emails being fired off from Musk. On November 16, Musk sent out an email titled "A Fork in the Road" and a warning to employees that for Twitter to reach "2.0," it would require long work hours at "high intensity," and the company would only be accepting "exceptional performance" as a passing grade.

The email also explained then-Twitter would be converting to a more engineering-driven company, and that if "you are sure that you want to be part of the new Twitter, please click yes on the link below. Anyone who has not done so by 5 pm ET tomorrow (Thursday) will receive three months of severance. Whatever decision you make, thank you for your efforts to make Twitter successful."

Now, the Irish Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has published a 73-page ruling that finds Twitter's dismissal of an Ireland-based senior executive, Gary Rooney, unfair and that Musk's email stating that failing to click "yes" within 24 hours doesn't constitute a legal act of registration. Moreover, the Irish watchdog found the email to be designed to force employees to agree to new employment terms sight unseen.

As for Rooney, the former Twitter employee argued that his contract stated he was to be contacted directly regarding his resignation and that it must be provided in writing. Furthermore, Ars Technica contacted the Department of Enterprise, Trade, and Employment, which handles media inquiries for the Irish Workplace Relations Commission. A spokesperson informed the publication that now-X will be required to pay Rooney more than $600,000, with $220,000 of that being "for prospective future loss of earnings."

The spokesperson also said the watchdog's decision will be published on the WRC's website on August 26.

From: Elon Musk

To: Team [at Twitter]

Subj. A Fork in the Road

Date: Nov. 16, 2022 [time stamp removed]

Going forward, to build a breakthrough Twitter 2.0 and succeed in an increasingly competitive world, we will need to be extremely hardcore. This will mean working long hours at high intensity. Only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade.

Twitter will also be much more engineering-driven. Design and product management will still be very important and report to me, but those writing great code will constitute the majority of our team and have the greatest sway.

At its heart, Twitter is a software and servers company, so l think this makes sense.

If you are sure that you want to be part of the new Twitter, please click yes on the link below:

[Link removed]

Anyone who has not done so by 5pm ET tomorrow (Thursday) will receive three months of severance.

Whatever decision you make, thank you for your efforts to make Twitter successful.

Elon