X gets $600K fine over ‘extremely hardcore’ Musk email

An Irish work protection group has slapped X/Twitter with a $600,000 fine over an unfair dismissal. 

In 2022, after Elon Musk bought out Twitter, he followed it up with an email to staff. They would have to click a link that said “Yes” within 24 hours, or be fired and take three months’ severance. 

Gary Rooney, ex-director of “source-to-pay”, was fired from Twitter after he didn’t press the button. 

X/Twitter

The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) did try to summon the X owner. However, according to Rooney, both Musk and the company’s legal team refused to play ball.

X’s position on the matter is that because Rooney didn’t press yes, it was a conscious choice. However, the defense failed after the WRC found the 24-hour limit not to be enough time, nor was the method used a viable way to resign in Ireland.

Representatives of the WRC ruled that there wasn’t enough information provided by X. This included any evidence of Rooney breaking his contract.

The WRC also found that Rooney was ready to work, but was locked out from accessing after the deadline.

Rooney has been awarded $600,000 and now works at a bank. However, Musk’s legal issues have mounted since his takeover of Twitter.

Musk’s legal woes mount up over at X

This isn’t the first time a firing from X has caused the mogul headaches. In 2022, an unaware Musk publically tried to humiliate a disabled worker. 

Haraldur Thorleifsson, whose company was acquired by Twitter, still had time on his contract and a $100 million buyout clause if he was terminated. Musk soon apologized.

After acquiring the company, he set up a giant light-up X on top of the building. It was soon brought down after the local city building department had 24 complaints lodged against it.

An Australian watchdog gave X a month to fix its issues with hate speech in June 2023. It was fined $610,500 in October, after failing to prove how it was tackling child abuse images.

In August 2023, Musk and X sued an anti-hate speech group, after the CCDH had allegedly scraped data without paying up. This was thrown out in March 2024.

In August this year, Musk and X CEO Linda Yaccarino sued a group of advertisers for conspiring against them. To sidestep the lawsuit, the non-profit GARM simply dissolved itself.

Then, on August 13, former President Donald Trump was interviewed by the X owner on the app’s ‘spaces’ feature. It was a turbulent broadcast, with Musk blaming outages on DDOS attacks.