Laid-Off Employees Of Twitter Africa Team ‘Ghosted’ Without Severance Pay Or Benefits

Laid-Off Employees Of Twitter Africa Team ‘Ghosted’ Without Severance Pay Or Benefits

It looks like Elon Musk is involved in yet another scandal.

Former Twitter employees in Africa who were laid off have reportedly been “ghosted” by the company and still have not received severance pay more than seven months after being let go.

The ex-employees — based in Accra, Ghana — accepted Twitter’s offer to pay them three months worth of severance, however, they have yet to receive the money or any further communication.

One former Twitter Africa employee told CNN,

“They literally ghosted us…Although Twitter has eventually settled former staff in other locations, Africa staff have still been left in the lurch despite us eventually agreeing to specific negotiated terms.”

The former employees said they were reluctant to agree to the severance package without benefits because it was less than what their colleagues in other locations received.

Another ex-employee expressed,

“Twitter was non-responsive until we agreed to the three months because we were all so stressed and exhausted and tired of the uncertainty, reluctant to take on the extra burdens of a court case so we felt we had no choice but to settle.”

It’s important to note that the former employees spoke anonymously due to having signed non-disclosure agreements.

According to Carla Olympio, an attorney representing the former staff members, they have not heard from Twitter or its lawyers since May, shortly after they agreed on the severance.

When CNN contacted Twitter for comment, they received an automated response – a poop emoji. In March, Elon Musk – the former CEO of Twitter – tweeted that Twitter would respond to all press inquiries with the poop emoji.

Roughly a dozen staff members were laid off just four days after Twitter opened a physical office in Accra last November. Some of the staff even moved to Ghana from other African nations, depending on their jobs at Twitter to support their legal status in the country.

CNN EXCLUSIVE: Elon Musk's Twitter "ghosted" laid off employees in its only Africa office without severance or benefits.

The Ghana-based team have not been paid a cent, unlike former staff in North America & Europe https://t.co/swQuFn9uk3 pic.twitter.com/BXNKoPZdKx

— Larry Madowo (@LarryMadowo) July 17, 2023

Olympio said,

“Unfortunately, it appears that after having unethically implemented their terminations in violation of their own promises and Ghana’s laws, dragging the negotiation process out for over half a year, now that we have come to the point of almost settlement, there has been complete silence from them for several weeks.”

It’s no secret that things on the social network have been very chaotic since Elon Musk acquired the platform for a reported $44B in October. Although he is no longer the CEO and is now the CTO (chief technology officer), Twitter and Musk are facing multiple lawsuits where plaintiffs are claiming the company has failed to pay former staffers what they are owed.

Elon Musk

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