Twitter sued after the mass layoffs

Twitter has been sued by former employees, who say they were not adequately warned under federal and California law.

The class-action lawsuit was filed in San Francisco federal court on Thursday by five current or former Twitter employees, including Emanuel Cornett, a software engineer known for his satirical cartoons targeting Silicon Valley and fired on Tuesday, according to the complaint.

Twitter announced Thursday evening that it will begin laying off workers, days after Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took control of the company, according to information obtained by NBC News. In the email, Twitter said employees will receive notifications about their work email or personal email accounts “if their careers are affected” if they are still employed.

Twitter employees are expecting the company to cut 50 percent of its workforce, or roughly 3,700 employees.

The federal Workforce Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires employers to provide 60 days advance notice of mass layoffs or plant closings.

“Plaintiffs bring this action seeking to ensure that Twitter complies with the law and to provide the required notice or severance pay in connection with the proposed layoffs,” the complaint states.

The suit asks the court to issue an order requiring Twitter to comply with the WARN Act. Twitter also wants to prevent employees from asking employees to sign documents that could waive their right to participate in litigation.

Representatives for Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokeswoman for the California Department of Employment was not immediately available to confirm whether the company had filed such WARN notices. The official WARN database currently does not display any files from Twitter.

See: Advertisers have backed away from Twitter following Musk’s takeover.