Fired Twitter manager sues over stock-option cancellation
An former Twitter Inc. manager fired as part of billionaire Elon Musk's revamping of the social-media platform after he bought it earlier this year claims the company improperly canceled some stock options he had.
John Barnett, whose Chroma Labs start-up was bought by Twitter, argues the company violated a restricted-stock agreement he got in the Chroma buyout, according to a Delaware Chancery Court lawsuit unsealed Wednesday.
Barnett, a staff-product manager, was terminated by email in November after expressing support for other colleagues fired in Musk's efforts to cut costs. He claims Twitter is losing $4 million per day. The lawsuit was originally filed Dec. 16.
“Twitter wrongfully cancelled Barnett's” options in violation of the pact linked to the Chroma deal, “which caused Barnett to suffer, and continue to suffer, irreparable harm,” according to the 23-page complaint. Twitter officials didn't immediately return an email for comment sent Wednesday after regular business hours.
The suit is among a number of legal actions taken by former Twitter employees who were fired after Musk took over the company in October. Some of Barnett's ex-colleagues contend in a California suit Twitter failed to give proper layoff notices and is shortchanging them on severance pay.
After Musk bought the social media company for $44 billion, he fired half the workforce, asked some essential employees to return, rolled back its expansive work-from-home policy, and called on workers to sign a pledge to remain “extremely hardcore” at Twitter or quit. He's threatened to put the company into bankruptcy because of more than $3 billion in losses.
Chroma Labs Deal
Barnett – an ex-Facebook programmer best known for creating apps with photo
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