A US federal judge has ruled that Twitter, now known as X, violated contracts by failing to pay millions of dollars in bonuses that the social media company had promised its employees. The breach-of-contract lawsuit was brought by former employee Mark Schobinger in June. Schobinger, who was Twitter’s senior director of compensation before leaving claims that Twitter promised employees 50% of their 2022 target bonuses but never made those payments. The judge ruled that Schobinger plausibly stated a breach of contract claim, and Twitter’s offer to pay him a bonus in return became a binding contract under California law. The company has been hit with numerous lawsuits by former employees and executives since Elon Musk bought Twitter last year. The lawsuit is seeking class-action status, filed on behalf of nearly 2,000 other current and former employees, and asks for damages over $5 million.
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Twitters Response
At the moment, there is no official response from Twitter with regards to the U.S. judge ruling. However, Twitter’s lawyers argued that the company made only an oral promise that was not a contract. The lawyers said that Texas law should govern the case, according to Courthouse News, which first reported the ruling. However, the judge ruled that California law governed the case.
The judge wrote
“Once Schobinger did what Twitter asked, Twitter’s offer to pay him a bonus in return became a binding contract under California law. And by allegedly refusing to pay Schobinger his promised bonus, Twitter violated that contract,”
Conclusion
Twitter, now known as X, violated contracts by failing to pay millions of dollars in bonuses which it promised. The breach-of-contract lawsuit was brought by former employee Mark Schobinger in June. He claims that Twitter promised employees 50% of their 2022 target bonuses but never made those payments. The judge ruled that Schobinger plausibly stated a breach of contract claim. Also, Twitter’s offer to pay him a bonus in return became a binding contract under California law. The company has been hit with numerous lawsuits by former employees and executives since Elon Musk bought Twitter last year.
