Twitter Accused of Illegally Firing Employee Who Criticized Elon Musk’s Return-to-Office Policies
In a recent development, Elon Musk’s company X has been accused of breaking federal law firing an employee who complained about the company’s return-to-office mandates. According to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Twitter illegally terminated an employee for voicing concerns about Musk’s policy.
The NLRB issued a formal complaint against X, alleging a violation of a federal law that prohibits businesses from punishing employees for organizing or communicating with others about working conditions. This is the first case filed the NLRB against X and specifically refers to an incident where a former employee responded to Musk’s statement that staff who refuse to come to the office would be fired.
Yao Yue, a principal software engineer, criticized Musk’s policy on Twitter, stating, “Don’t resign, let him fire you,” and posting similar remarks in a company Slack channel. CNBC reported on Yue’s criticism. Five days later, she was unexpectedly fired, with the explanation given that she had violated an unspecified company policy.
The NLRB complaint states that X “unlawfully discharged the employee for exercising their right to protected concerted activity under the National Labor Relations Act.” The complaint also highlights the fact that Musk reversed a remote work policy implemented former CEO Jack Dorsey shortly after taking control of Twitter.
Musk has consistently been a staunch advocate for in-office work, requiring employees at both X and Tesla to be present at the office five days a week. He has gone so far as to call remote work “morally wrong.” However, his strict return-to-office policies have led to criticism and firings of employees who express dissenting opinions.
In a previous case reported Insider, a software engineer named Daniel Fletcher was fired for unspecified behavior that violated company policy after tweeting and retweeting posts critical of Musk’s leadership.
Yue’s complaint will be heard on January 30 in San Francisco. As of now, neither the NLRB nor X have responded to requests for comment from Insider.