Man won $600,000

A former Twitter employee, Gary Rooney, secured over $600,000 in compensation after being dismissed during Elon Musk’s drastic restructuring of the company. When Musk took over Twitter (now X), he sent an email demanding employees commit to a “hardcore” work culture by clicking a link within 24 hours, warning that failure to do so would result in contract termination with severance. Rooney, based in Dublin, claimed he thought the email was spam and didn’t respond. Twitter treated his inaction as voluntary resignation, but Rooney challenged this with Ireland’s Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).

The WRC ruled in Rooney’s favor, stating the 24-hour ultimatum was insufficient for such a critical decision and that Rooney had never formally resigned. Evidence showed he had discussed needing time to think. As a result, he was awarded €550,131 ($607,802) in lost earnings and future damages. While Musk’s swift cost-cutting moves drastically slashed Twitter’s workforce—dropping from 7,500 to 1,500 employees—this case highlights one instance where the strategy backfired financially.