Twitter/X Paid €550000 To The Fired Irish Executive

Twitter/X paid €550000 as compensation to a former senior Irish executive which is the highest award ever recorded by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). During its Irish-based operations, this is one unfair dismissal case that has become the highlight in the social media industry.

WRC was informed that when the employee decided not to tick the box mentioning a new unspecified pay term and the “Fork in the Road” mail was sent to X without complying with the email condition, the senior Irish executive was immediately in hot waters. The case also cited that Elon Musk, the new owner, did not acknowledge this act as the conditions needed to be agreed upon with a one-day deadline to respond back with a ‘yes’.

(Also read: Elon Musk announces successful brain chip implantation)

There were clear indications in the email like, “We need to build a breakthrough Twitter 2.0 and succeed in an increasingly competitive world, we will need to be extremely hardcore. This will mean working long hours at high intensity. Only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade”.

Elon Musk made sure that the message was conveyed strictly as the email ended with words like, “Anyone who has not done so by 5 pm ET tomorrow will receive three months of severance”.

The email also thanked the employees for making X successful, however, the decision was somewhat forced, still asking the employees to agree with it.

Elon Musk did not provide any similar evidence, however, complainant Gary Rooney requested WRC to compel him to join them as a witness.

Gary Rooney to whom X paid €550000

Gary Rooney is the senior Irish executive and the complainant who was terminated by Twitter/X when he failed to click ‘yes’. Mr Rooney also added that he was further restrained from getting engaged with the company as well as his solicitor.

Mr Rooney’s legal representative was of the view that a mere action of not clicking the box would exhibit great deals of “change in employment law in Ireland” as it seemed a mandatory option for a resignation if an employee does not agree with the orders from the company owners.

On the other hand, Twitter/X argued that Mr Rooney was deliberately resigning from his role in the company as soon as he decided not to click ‘yes’. The company mentioned it was clearly mentioned in the email that by not agreeing to the mail, the employees would be terminated; it was “clear and straightforward”.

WRC adjudicated via a 73-page ruling that Mr Rooney’s employment came to an end with Twitter/X merely because he did not click ‘yes’ at the end of an email.

WRC adjudication officer, Michael MacNamee presented his viewpoint that the only discretion of Mr Rooney of not clicking ‘yes’ does not certify that he is willing to resign.

An official from WRC also corroborated that Mr Rooney was available to work with the company but the company did not allow him. They snatched access to accounts and email from the senior Irish executive as soon as he failed to comply with their email’s orders.

Additionally, the WRC official declared that the email itself seemed to be a declaration to secure an agreement towards the resignation of the employee whoever decides to not click ‘yes’.

The decision was taken when the complainant asked for a total compensation package of the time, which was €369,937. The package also comes with his base salary, which was €137,000 along with a 30 percent performance bonus.

The Fork in the Road email was sent at 2:19 am which resulted in disastrous consequences under which X paid €550000 to Mr Rooney who was unable to find a similar job after his resignation. He had no option but to work in a bank later.