A recent employment tribunal decision out of Ireland has made headlines for ordering Elon Musk's Twitter to pay a former senior staffer a record compensation package after finding he was unjustly terminated from his role.
Gary Rooney, who had spent nearly a decade with Twitter in a high-level procurement position based in Dublin, was deemed to have been dismissed unfairly by the social media giant last November. The dismissal came shortly after billionaire entrepreneur Musk's high-profile $44 billion acquisition of the platform and introduction of extensive operational changes.
As part of his turnaround vision, Musk had sent all employees an email asking them to commit to an “extremely hardcore” work culture with long hours and high-intensity performance. Rooney opted not to respond affirmatively to the correspondence within a 24-hour deadline. He was then abruptly informed via email a few days later that by not replying, he had effectively resigned from his director-level post.
Contesting the characterization, Rooney maintained he never resigned or saw any separation agreement. However, his access was immediately cut off. After an internal review, Ireland's Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) this week found Twitter had incorrectly removed Rooney from his role without due process.
In one of the largest determinations of its kind, the WRC awarded the former executive over 5.5 million euros total. This included reimbursement for lost wages up until his expected retirement and compensation for diminished future earnings.
The headline-generating verdict serves as an important reminder for employers globally to abide by fair procedures before dismissing staff, especially senior personnel. It remains to be seen if Musk's leadership style at Twitter will adapt further to balance disruption with due employment standards.
