Business Desk 
Aug 23, 2025
A class-action lawsuit involving former employees who sought $500 million in severance pay has been tentatively settled by Elon Musk's X, formerly known as Twitter.
Employees who lost their jobs after Musk took over the business in 2022 brought the lawsuit.
In order to complete the settlement agreement, both parties have requested that a US appeals court postpone a future hearing, according to court documents.
The lawsuit alleges that Musk's offer of three months' severance pay fell short of what workers anticipated from Twitter's severance plan, which guaranteed senior employees up to six months' base pay plus one week of pay for every year of service.
Many former workers were not paid in full, and some were not paid at all.
According to the plaintiffs, Ronald Cooper and Courtney McMillan, the company did not provide the severance pay that they and other fired employees were entitled to.
Following his acquisition of Twitter in 2022, Musk reduced the company's workforce by approximately 80% by firing over 6,000 workers.
The lawsuit contends that for the majority of Twitter employees, the company's severance plan guaranteed them two months of basic pay and one week of pay for every full year of service.
However, some employees received nothing at all, and Twitter only provided severance pay for a maximum of one month to fired employees.
Musk was found not obligated to uphold the severance agreements by a US District Judge in San Francisco in July, but the plaintiffs challenged the decision.
The terms of the deal are not yet public knowledge, and the settlement agreement will need court approval.
Additionally, the hearing that was supposed to take place next month has been rescheduled to give both parties more time to complete the settlement.
