Elon Musk apologized for publicly accusing an employee using their disability as an excuse. The whole episode was called unusual by an employment lawyer.

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On Tuesday, Elon Musk made an apology for making fun of a Twitter employee with muscular dystrophy.
Musk accused the employee of not doing "actual" work and asked him to justify why he should be kept his job.
Insider Musk was told by a lawyer that Musk's attitude toward people with disabilities is hostile.

Elon Musk apologized publicly for accusing a former Twitter employee that he did "no actual work" due to his disability.

Haraldur Thorleifsson (an Iceland-based entrepreneur, and former employee of Twitter) ended up in a public swap with Elon Musk. Thorleifsson attempted to find out if he was fired from the tech company during this exchange.

On Tuesday, Musk mocked Thorleifsson publicly in a series tweets questioning the company's value. Musk said that Thorleifsson had used his disability to make him work less. Thorleifsson suffers from muscular dystrophy.

Musk tweeted: "The truth is that this guy (who was independently wealthy) did not do any actual work. He claimed that he had a disability which prevented him from typing but was tweeting a lot. Musk tweeted: "I can't say that I have much respect for that."

Thorleifsson stated that he was notified by Twitter's HR department of his resignation.

After much scrutiny, Musk retracted his position and said he had spoken to Thorleifsson via a phone call. Musk then apologized to Thorleifsson and invited him back to the company.

Musk stated that Thorleifsson was "considering remaining at Twitter."

–Elon Musk (@elonmusk), March 7, 2023

Thorleifsson is open about his experience with muscular dystrophy

Thorleifsson tweeted about his experience with muscular dystrophy. He said that he began using a wheelchair at the age of 25.

"In that time, the rest of my body had been failing me as well." He tweeted, "I need help getting in and out of bed and using the toilet."

Thorleifsson stated that he had told Twitter's HR department about his disability, which was affecting his hands. He couldn't type more than an hour at a stretch on a computer. Because he had only one finger to type, he was able tweet from his phone.

Musk's takeover of Twitter didn't affect his position, he said. His job was mainly to lead teams and not do manual work on computers.

Thorleifsson did no immediate respond to Insider's request.

It is not the first time that Twitter's workplace practices have been scrutinized by disabled workers. Twitter employees with disabilities filed a class action lawsuit in November against the company. They claimed that Musk's "extremely hardcore" work culture, and his orders to "work long hours at very high intensity", forced them to quit.

Employment lawyer: "You would expect that someone would show a little more sensibility."

Insider was told by Nicholas P. Connon (an employment lawyer based in Los Angeles), that Musk had apologized for his public allegations, but that his claims that someone would use their disability to make a profit were concerning.

Connon stated that it can show a hostile mindset towards people with disabilities when they start questioning their integrity in terms of whether or not they have a disability. Connon stated, "And that's not the right thing to do."

Connon pointed out that Musk has spoken out about his experiences with disability and how he feels about working with people with disabilities. Musk, who has Asperger's syndrome, revealed his diagnosis during a Saturday Night Live appearance in 2021.

Connon stated, "And so you would imagine that someone you know who has their own circumstances would be a little more sensitive than someone who is stating they have a disability."

Lawyer Elon says Elon loves to quickly respond to situations

Connon stated to Insider that he was aware that Musk is a CEO who speaks to his employees. However, he said that the Thorleifsson debacle was "a little unusual."

Connon stated, "There are some positive aspects to that, but also potential negative consequences."

Connon, who is an attorney representing employers, stated that most lawyers would advise against such communications being made public. Connon pointed to the fact that employers in California run the risk of violating employee privacy law.

Connon stated that he sometimes gets the impression that Elon responds quickly to situations and posts ad-libs. Connon said it was "interesting" to see someone in Elon’s position respond to a question on Twitter about HR issues.

Connon said that an HR department should be responsible for responding to employees because they "are a bit better informed and understand the complexities of employment laws."

Thorleifsson is located in Reykjavik (Iceland) and joined Twitter in 2021 as a full time employee after Twitter acquired Ueno Creative Agency, which he had founded. Numerous Icelandic media outlets named him the nation's Person of the Year for 2022. He was also praised for accepting wages at Twitter, rather than being paid out to his company, in order to pay more taxes here.

Connon stated that it was difficult to establish what employment laws Thorleifsson is protected under, as he is located in Iceland. His contract details are not available to the public.

Insider reached out to Twitter representatives but they did not respond immediately.

Business Insider has the original article.

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By: hgetahun@insider.com (Hannah Getahun,Matthew Loh)
Title: Elon Musk apologized after publicly accusing an employee of using their disability as an ‘excuse.’ An employment lawyer called the whole saga ‘a bit unusual.’
Sourced From: www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-apologize-twitter-feud-disabled-employee-2023-3
Published Date: Wed, 08 Mar 2023 07:21:46 +0000