The Memo: Ex-Twitter employee wins unfair dismissal case

Remember the commotion a few years ago when Twitter (now X) was purchased for $44 billion by Elon Musk. Well, whilst the average user was still pondering what this would mean for them, employees were opening a curious company-wide email, infamously titled ‘A Fork in the Road.’ On this fateful day in November 2022, Musk asked employees to agree to a “hardcore” work culture to build Twitter 2.0, outlining that “only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade.” Musk then warned, “if you are sure that you want to be part of the new Twitter, please click yes on the link below... Whatever decision you make, thank you for your efforts to make Twitter successful.” Those who didn’t click ‘yes’ by 5pm the next day would receive three months' severance pay, as this signified a supposed confirmation of their resignation. 

Well, any email prompting you to click on a link sounds unsettlingly familiar to all the classic phishing scams! Nevertheless, 235 out of 270 employees in Ireland did indeed click ‘yes.’ But, for one senior procurement executive who didn’t respond within the timeframe but reached out to clarify he hadn’t resigned, the response was, “as we advised you at that time, this was treated as you having served notice to resign your employment.” Thus began the case of Gary Rooney vs Twitter, taking the company to Ireland’s Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). In response to a 73-page ruling, the WRC adjudication officer concluded that the decision not to click ‘yes’ was not capable of constituting an act of resignation, resulting in a €550,000 award, the largest ever issued by the WRC in an unfair dismissal case. 

While employment law in the UK will be an area to watch under Labour’s new government, the system has typically been that an employee can claim unfair dismissal if they have been with the company for at least two years. Reasons to support the claim could include a lack of fair or sufficient justification for the dismissal, or if the employer did not follow a fair/proper procedure.