Four former executives of Twitter Inc., including former Chief Executive Parag Agarwal, have filed a lawsuit against company owner Elon Musk for over $128 million in severance. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in California, arises from a year-long dispute following Musk’s decision to terminate the executives for alleged gross negligence and willful misconduct. Despite this, they claim that their dismissals were unfair and unjustified, leading to Musk withholding their severance payments.
Plaintiffs and Allegations
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are not only Agarwal but also Ned Segal, Twitter’s former chief financial officer; Vijaya Gadde, its former chief legal officer; and Sean Edgett, its former general counsel. These individuals are seeking compensation for their unprocessed severance payments as a result of their terminations by Musk after he bought Twitter in October 2022 and rebranded it as X.
Musk’s Tactics
The group behind the lawsuit accuses Musk of adopting a strategic approach to withhold money owed to others and to compel them to take legal action against him. They claim that Musk’s modus operandi involves prolonging legal procedures, causing inconvenience, and incurring unnecessary expenses for those less financially equipped to handle such challenges.
No immediate comments were available from representatives of X regarding this matter.