Elon Musk’s Twitter reign has infamously been riddled with a number of rounds of layoffs, technical glitches, poor communications and ineffective coverage adjustments. The latest spherical of cuts on the firm have affected tons of of staff, together with designer Haraldur Thorleifsson—however he didn’t know for certain if he had been sacked as a result of it took the corporate 9 days to inform him.
At Musk-led “Twitter 2.0,” staffers had been fired through tweets or just misplaced entry to their accounts and units with out discover up to now. So, Thorleifsson went on Twitter to ask the platform’s “chief twit” for solutions, and really bought a direct reply from the CEO —solely to have Musk dismiss his function on the firm.
However on Tuesday, Musk went even additional and replied to a tweet commenting on the forwards and backwards between the Twitter CEO and Thorleifsson, attacking him and implying he was being misleading a few incapacity.
“The fact is that this man (who’s independently rich) did no precise work, claimed as his excuse that he had a incapacity that prevented him from typing, but was concurrently tweeting up a storm,” Musk wrote.
The fact is that this man (who’s independently rich) did no precise work, claimed as his excuse that he had a incapacity that prevented him from typing, but was concurrently tweeting up a storm.
Can’t say I’ve loads of respect for that.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 7, 2023
The spat, which by this time had already added as much as over eight exchanges, didn’t finish there. Thorleifsson took the chance Musk offered to inform his personal story about his incapacity and his time at Twitter, detailing how he developed his profession whereas residing with muscular dystrophy, a situation that may scale back the mobility of limbs and, as in Thorleifsson’s case, make sufferers wheelchair-bound.
Hello once more @elonmusk 👋
I hope you’re nicely.
I’m high quality too. I’m grateful on your curiosity in my well being.
However because you talked about it, I wished to present you extra information.
I’ve muscular dystrophy. It has many results on my physique.
Let me inform you what they’re: https://t.co/2vb16kP6Yv
— Halli (@iamharaldur) March 7, 2023
“My legs have been the primary to go. After I was 25 years outdated I began utilizing a wheelchair,” Thorleifsson wrote in a thread. In a follow-up tweet, he shared extra element about how his incapacity affected his physique, and influenced his work, however didn’t imply that he was doing nothing, as Musk claimed.
However Thorleifsson’s response didn’t finish there. He went on to clarify how he grew to become “independently rich” (by founding a digital landscaping company that labored with Apple, Google, Uber and others), and ultimately promoting to Twitter.
“We grew quick and made cash. I believe that’s what you’re referring to whenever you say independently rich?” Thorleifsson wrote. He added: “To procure the corporate and advised staff you weren’t firing 75% of them. Which you then did.”
Even after Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion and started making adjustments to the way it was run, Thorleifsson wrote that he checked in together with his supervisor each week asking what work to deal with, and commonly contacted HR to ask for his job description—however bought on response.
“I wished to verify I used to be doing what I used to be imagined to do,” he wrote.
In response to Musk’s accusation that he was “tweeting up a storm” regardless of his incapacity, Thorleiffson mentioned that he had advised Twitter’s HR that he couldn’t do hands-on designing as a result of his medical situation hampered his potential to do “guide work for prolonged intervals of time” with out his palms cramping. However he may nonetheless write for an hour or two.
“This wasn’t an issue in Twitter 1.0 since I used to be a senior director and my job was principally to assist groups transfer ahead, give them strategic and tactical steering,” Thorleiffson wrote.
He ended the thread accusing Musk of sharing confidential well being data, and asking if he would pay him what he’s owed.
“I believe you’ll be able to afford it?” Thorleiffson wrote.
Twitter, which now not has a communications staff, didn’t return Fortune’s request for remark. Thorleifsson didn’t instantly reply to Fortune’s request for remark.
That is the newest in a collection of unceremonious layoffs carried out at Twitter. When Musk took over as the pinnacle of the San Francisco-based social media big, he promptly eliminated among the firm’s high executives together with about half of Twitter’s different staffers. A number of layoffs have adopted since.
Musk requested the remaining staff to brace an “extraordinarily hardcore” work tradition or take severance, which got here late and have been beneath the promised quantity. Some former staff are pursuing authorized motion towards Musk and Twitter for reneging on their monetary obligations made to staff.
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