Twitter calls for dismissal of lawsuit for discriminating against workers with disabilities

Twitter Inc asked a federal judge in California to dismiss a proposed class action lawsuit alleging that the CEO’s tenure, Elon Muskthat employees return to the office and work “long hours at high intensity” discriminates against workers with disabilities.

The lawyers of Twitter filed a motion to dismiss the November lawsuit late Wednesday, saying the plaintiffs had not alleged that any of the company’s actions were directed against or had a disproportionate impact on people with disabilities.

Twitter laid off about 3,700 employees in early November in a cost-cutting move by Musk, who acquired the company for $44 billion and is also the chief executive of Tesla. Hundreds more resigned after he called on staff to “be extremely tough” or resign.

The suit alleges that the ultimatum of Musk violated the Federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which requires employers to provide reasonable accommodation to workers with disabilities.

The plaintiffs are a senior engineering manager who continues to work at Twitter and an engineer who says he was laid off last month. They claim that many Twitter employees with disabilities were forced to resign because they could not return to the office and meet the heavy demands of Musk.

In a motion filed Wednesday, the company said the employee who remains on the payroll signed an agreement to arbitrate work-related legal disputes and asked that his claims be referred to arbitration.

The former employee, Dmitri Borodaenko, cannot represent a class of workers because he was fired before Musk asked employees to commit to working longer hours, the company said.

Shannon Liss-Riordan, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said it was routine for defendants to try to get cases dismissed from the start.

“We will respond in due course, but we stand firm on these allegations and look forward to holding Twitter and Elon Musk accountable for their appalling treatment of employees over the past two months,” he said.

The lawsuit is one of four pending before the same court stemming from job cuts at the company.

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