Judge OKs Twitter age discrimination lawsuit
A California court has given the go-ahead for a lawsuit alleging that X, formerly Twitter, discriminated against older workers during its massive layoffs last year.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston told attorneys Tuesday that John Zeman, the plaintiff, provided enough evidence for the case to continue. She noted that federal law bans workplace age bias and lets individuals bring “disparate impact” claims to the court.
In his suit, Mr. Zeman claims that X fired 54% of workers under the age of 50 compared with 60% of workers older than 50 and nearly 75% of workers over 60 years old.
Despite the win for Mr. Zeman, the judge dismissed one claim in the suit that X intentionally targeted older workers with its firings.
After Elon Musk took over Twitter last October, he fired nearly 80% of the staff, reducing certain teams to single digits. The move alienated many but also started a wave of similar-style layoffs in the tech industry.
