By Daniel Wiessner
(Reuters) – A federal decide in California has tossed out a lawsuit accusing Twitter Inc of discriminating towards employees with disabilities by requiring staff to report back to the workplace and put in lengthy hours working at excessive depth.
U.S. District Decide Haywood Gilliam in Oakland in a ruling issued late on Friday determined that plaintiff Dmitry Borodaenko, a former Twitter engineering supervisor, failed to point out how insurance policies set by CEO Elon Musk amid mass layoffs on the social media firm disproportionately impacted disabled employees.
However Gilliam gave Borodaenko, who lives in Scotts Valley, California, three weeks to file an amended lawsuit additional detailing his claims within the lawsuit, proposed as a category motion.
Borodaenko, a most cancers survivor, claims that Twitter fired him in November when he refused to cease working remotely.
Musk, who acquired Twitter final 12 months for $44 billion, stated in a memo to workers in November that staff must be ready to work “lengthy hours at excessive depth” or give up.
Shannon Liss-Riordan, Borodaenko’s lawyer, stated on Monday that she deliberate to file an amended grievance including new info.
“Elon Musk has proven his utter lack of regard for disabled staff by means of his phrases and conduct,” Liss-Riordan stated.
Twitter didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. The corporate beforehand has stated that its insurance policies weren’t focused at staff with disabilities.
Gilliam on Friday additionally dominated that claims by a second plaintiff represented by Liss-Riordan, Abhijit Mehta, belong in personal arbitration relatively than courtroom as a result of Mehta signed an settlement to arbitrate employment-related authorized disputes. Borodaenko opted out of the settlement.
The lawsuit is one in all a number of that Twitter is dealing with stemming from Musk’s determination to put off about half of the corporate’s workforce. Twitter has denied wrongdoing in these circumstances, together with ones claiming that feminine staff have been focused for layoffs and that the corporate did not pay promised severance.
Liss-Riordan additionally represents practically 2,000 former Twitter staff who’ve filed authorized claims towards the corporate in arbitration.
(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York, Modifying by Will Dunham and Alexia Garamfalvi)
