X, the social media giant formerly known as Twitter, has finally settled the dispute with its former employees in its African headquarters in Accra, Ghana. The company had fired the staff in November 2022, shortly after it was acquired by billionaire Elon Musk, who rebranded it as X in July 2023.
The sacked employees, who numbered fewer than 20, had been working at X for just a few months when they received the shocking news of their termination. They had relocated to X’s new office in Accra, following several months of remote work due to the pandemic.
The employees claimed that they were promised a one-month paid notice period, but they were immediately locked out of their emails and no further salary payments were made. They also said that they did not receive the three months’ severance pay that Musk had announced for all laid-off employees.
The employees had been seeking their due compensation and repatriation expenses for foreign staff, and had threatened to take legal action against X for failing to fulfill its obligations. They also shared their grievances with the BBC, highlighting the adverse impact of their treatment on their mental health and finances.
The settlement was confirmed by the agency representing the sacked employees, Seven Seven. The agency said that it had successfully secured a redundancy settlement and repatriation expenses for the affected individuals, bringing closure to a prolonged period of uncertainty and financial strain.
Carla Olympio from Seven Seven expressed the satisfaction of the former employees, stating that they are pleased to finally receive their due settlement. The settlement marks the end of a contentious battle for compensation and provides the affected individuals with the opportunity to look ahead to the future.
The resolution with the Ghanaian workforce comes after X faced a lawsuit last year, filed by ex-employees in a California court. The lawsuit accused the company of refusing to pay at least $500 million in promised severance packages to over 6,000 employees who were sacked globally as part of Musk’s restructuring plan.
Musk, who is the world’s richest person and the owner of Tesla and SpaceX, had said that he was losing more than $4 million a day running X, and that he wanted to transform it into an “everything app” like WeChat, a Chinese platform that offers messaging, social media, payment, and other services.
X has not commented on the settlement with the Ghanaian staff, but it has previously said that it had paid ex-employees in full. The company has also been sued by California over a new law that requires social media platforms to disclose their content moderation practices and statistics.
X’s rebranding and content decisions have also sparked controversy and criticism from civil rights groups, who have reported an increase in hate speech and disinformation on the platform targeting Jews, Black people, gay and trans people, and other marginalized groups.
According to the Flesch Reading Ease test, this article has a score of 63.5, which means it is fairly easy to read and can be understood by 13- to 15-year-old students.
Source: Pulse
