A former Twitter engineer accused the company of firing him days after it was acquired by Elon Musk because he developed a tool that allows workers to save important documents in anticipation of mass layoffs, according to a Reuters report.
Engineer Emmanuel Cornet filed a complaint with the US National Labor Relations Board on Monday, claiming he was engaged in a legitimate activity when he posted the tool’s program on an internal Twitter messaging channel.
Cornet, who was based in San Francisco, said in the complaint that he was fired on November 1, a few days before Twitter began laying off about half of its 7,500 employees in a bid to cut costs by Musk, the world’s richest person.
Cornet and four other Twitter employees filed a lawsuit in California federal court Friday, accusing the social media company of violating federal and California laws that require employers to provide 60 days’ notice before engaging in mass layoffs.
Musk said in a series of tweets on Friday that the Twitter workers who were laid off were offered a 90-day severance package, which would meet Twitter’s obligations under notice laws.
Cornet said in the complaint that late last month, amid rumors of mass layoffs at Twitter, he developed a tool that runs on Google Chrome and allows employees to download emails from their Twitter account.
He said this would ensure that workers could save important documents such as statements, performance reviews, and other HR documents that reflect their Twitter effort.
Cornet says he was fired on the same day he posted a link to his product on an internal Twitter channel. According to the complaint, Twitter removed the link later that day.
If Cornet succeeds in filing a complaint against Twitter, she can order his reinstatement and compensation.
