Twitter Refused to Pay Employees Annual Bonuses as Promised, Class Action Alleges

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A proposed class action lawsuit claims Twitter, Inc. and X Corp., which merged in March 2023, have refused to honor their promises to pay employees annual bonuses for 2022.

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The seven-page lawsuit says that in an attempt to quell employee concerns following the April 2022 announcement that Elon Musk would purchase the social media company, Twitter executives “repeatedly” promised that workers would receive their 2022 annual bonuses as normal under the company’s cash performance bonus plan. Despite these assurances, which continued even after Musk’s acquisition, Twitter has refused to pay 2022 bonuses to employees who remained at the company in the first quarter of 2023, the suit alleges.

Throughout each year, the company funds its employee bonus plan based upon an overall target amount, the case explains. According to the complaint, Twitter has historically paid out at least 50 percent of the target each year, and bonuses are typically distributed each March for the prior year.

Before and after Musk’s acquisition of Twitter in October 2022, and amid employee concerns about policy changes, the company’s management—including former Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal—consistently promised workers that they would be paid their annual bonus for 2022 at 50 percent of the target, the filing claims.

As in the past, the lawsuit shares, Twitter had funded the employee bonus plan as expected for 2022.

“The money for employees’ annual bonuses under the Bonus Plan was accounted for by Twitter’s financial team and was available to be paid to Twitter’s employees during the first quarter of 2023,” the suit reads.

However, the company has refused to pay any workers their 2022 annual bonus in the first quarter of this year, the case alleges.

The plaintiff, a Texas resident, was employed by Twitter as the senior director of compensation between February 2019 and May 2023, the complaint relays. Like other Twitter employees, the plaintiff relied on the company’s agreement to pay 2022 annual bonuses when choosing to remain at Twitter following Elon Musk’s buyout, the filing says.

Per the case, the plaintiff left the company in May of this year because of Twitter’s failure to honor various promises, including its pledge to pay last year’s bonus.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone employed by Twitter in the first quarter of 2023 who was covered by the company’s cash performance bonus plan but did not receive their annual bonus for 2022.

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