In the recent high-profile case of Gary Rooney v Twitter International Unlimited Company (ADJ – 00044246), the Workplace Relations Commission (“WRC”) upheld the Complainant’s claim for unfair dismissal and awarded him a record €550,131. The decision is under appeal to the Labour Court.

Facts:

The Complainant began employment with the Respondent in 2013. At the time his employment ended in December 2022 he held the position of “Director of Source to Pay”.

On 16^th November 2022, the Respondent’s then entire workforce received an email from the Respondent’s new owner (Elon Musk). The email was entitled “A Fork in the Road”. The content of the email (as outlined to the WRC by the Complainant and accepted by the Respondent) was as follows:

“Going forward, 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 a grade. [….]

If you are sure that you want to be part of the new Twitter, please click yes on the link below. Anyone has not done so by 5pm ET tomorrow (Thursday) will receive three months of severance.

Whatever decision you make, thank you for your efforts to make twitter successful.

Elon.”

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