Published on: 02 November, 2024 22:35 IST
LI Network
A Major setback for Elon Musk, a California district court has granted permission for former Twitter executives, including ex-CEO Parag Agrawal, to sue Musk over unpaid severance. Bloomberg reports that a California district judge ruled that the executives dismissed during Musk’s 2022 acquisition of Twitter, now rebranded as “X,” can pursue legal action against him, alleging they were denied severance pay after being fired without the opportunity to resign.
The lawsuit, Agrawal v. Musk, 24-cv-01304, filed in the U.S. District Court for Northern California, includes former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, ex-CFO Ned Segal, former legal chief Vijaya Gadde, and ex-general counsel Sean Edgett. They claim Musk owes them a year’s salary plus unvested stock awards based on Twitter’s acquisition price. In their complaint, the former executives reference Walter Isaacson’s biography of Musk, which describes a “$200 million differential in the cookie jar” related to the rushed $44 billion buyout.
Musk, who rebranded Twitter to “X” shortly after the purchase, has not responded to the allegations. This case is one of several lawsuits Musk faces from ex-Twitter employees. Notably, former core tech general manager Nicholas Caldwell is also pursuing a $20 million severance claim in the same court, where Judge Chesney recently denied Musk’s request to dismiss Caldwell’s case.
In addition, a former Twitter employee recently won an unpaid severance case through arbitration, potentially setting a precedent for similar claims against Musk.