Twitter Staff Targeted in Mass Firings Accuse Company of 'Sham' Redundancy Process

Twitter has been accused of carrying out a "sham redundancy process" and threatened with lawsuits by UK staff who were targeted by mass firings after Elon Musk took over the social-media giant.

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Winckworth Sherwood LLP said in a letter to Twitter on Monday that the company had behaved "unfairly and without regard for English law" when it took steps to fire staff late last year by locking them out of company systems. The letter was seen by Bloomberg News.

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The law firm representing 43 of the approximately 180 affected UK employees said that they plan to escalate their case to the Employment Tribunal if Twitter does not resolve the issues. The firm is based in London and said that staffers are not happy with the current situation.

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Musk laid off approximately 3,500 Twitter employees on November 4, just one week after taking control of the company. He did this in order to cut costs. The UK warning increases the legal pressure on the company, which is already facing a number of lawsuits in the US over labor issues, as well as global regulatory scrutiny.
In the UK, companies must follow a strict, lengthy consultation process if they want to fire more than 20 employees. Firms are required to prove there are grounds to remove workers from their job.

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The law firm said that decisions about the staff's employment were made unlawfully prior to the start of any fair process. They learned about this in an "abrupt, insensitive and disorientating manner."

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Winckworth claimed that the company was trying to conclude the process hastily and without consulting fairly, including scrapping a planned Town Hall with representatives of the staff to discuss concerns. This was first reported by the Financial Times.

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Prospect, a UK union that represents tech workers, also wrote to the company on Monday to urge the company to pause its redundancy process, according to a letter seen by Bloomberg. Mike Clancy, the general secretary, said he was "appalled" at the way staff are being treated and alleged employees were being given an arbitrary date to sign their rights away to receive enhanced redundancy terms.

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A message sent to Twitter's press email was not immediately returned. Twitter no longer has a public relations team. Winckworth asked for a response to its letter by Jan. 13.