Federal Judge Allows Class Action for Age Discrimination Against Social Media Platform X

A federal judge in San Francisco has allowed 150 older workers to sue the social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, for age discrimination. The lawsuit, led by John Zeman, claims significant layoffs targeted employees aged 50 and over. The company, acquired by Elon Musk, faces potential multi-million dollar damages.

A federal judge in San Francisco has ruled that roughly 150 older workers who were laid off by the social media platform X when Elon Musk acquired the company can sue for age discrimination as a class, exposing the company to millions of dollars in potential damages.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in a decision released late Tuesday said the case presents a common question over the impact that a 2022 mass layoff at the company had on workers aged 50 and older. Plaintiff John Zeman, who worked in X's communications department when the company was called Twitter, sued in 2023. He alleges that X laid off 60% of employees who were 50 or older and nearly three-quarters of those over 60, compared with 54% of employees younger than 50.

"Plaintiff has shown beyond mere speculation that Twitter may have discriminated against older employees in the November 4, 2022 (mass layoff), which constitutes a single decision that affected all members of the proposed class," Illston wrote. This ruling allows Zeman's lawyers to send notice of the lawsuit to potential class members, giving them a chance to opt into the case.

X did not respond to a request for comment. The company denies engaging in discrimination and maintains it eliminated the entire communications department, where Zeman worked, after Musk's takeover, regardless of employees' ages. Shannon Liss-Riordan, a lawyer for Zeman and about 2,000 other former Twitter employees who have brought a series of legal claims against the company, expressed satisfaction with the ruling.

This lawsuit is among about a dozen that X faces following Musk's decision to lay off over half of Twitter's workforce in 2022. These cases include various claims which X has denied, such as laying off employees and contractors without required advance notice, targeting women for layoffs, and forcing out workers with disabilities by banning remote work.

In August, two judges separately dismissed sex and disability bias cases while allowing plaintiffs to file amended complaints. Two other lawsuits allege that the company owes former employees at least $500 million in severance pay, one of which was dismissed in July.

(With inputs from agencies.)