Twitter Inc was hit with the second lawsuit this month to claim that it owes at least $500 million in severance pay to ex-workers.
The proposed class action filed in Delaware federal court by former Twitter senior engineer Chris Woodfield also alleges that the company targeted older workers for layoffs, a claim that has not been made in the other pending cases.
Woodfield, who worked for Twitter out of Seattle, says the company repeatedly told employees that they would receive two months’ salary and other payouts if they were laid off, but that he and other workers have not received the money.
Twitter laid off more than half of its workforce as a cost-cutting measure after Musk acquired the company last October.
Twitter no longer has a media relations department and the company responded to an email seeking comment with an automatic response containing a poop emoji. The company has said in response to other lawsuits that laid-off workers have been paid in full.
A similar lawsuit was filed last week in California federal court claiming Twitter owes ex-employees more than $500 million in severance.
Twitter has not responded to that lawsuit, which claims it violated a federal law regulating employee benefit plans by failing to abide by the terms of a severance plan established before Musk acquired the company.
Woodfield’s lawsuit accuses the company of breach of contract and fraud. Woodfield also claims that Twitter targeted him to be laid off because he is an “older worker,” though the complaint does not state his age.
