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- Elon Musk publicly trolling a Twitter employee to find out if their job was still available.
- He asked the employee to justify their work and posted laughing memes and emojis as they replied.
- Later, the employee confirmed that he had been laid off but didn't know if he would be paid severance as per his contract.
Elon Musk had an online dispute with a Twitter employee on Tuesday who wanted to know if they were laid off.
Haraldur Thorleifsson (@iamharaldur) tweeted at Musk Monday evening, saying that he had lost his laptop access nine-days prior and didn't know if he was still working.
"But your HR head is not able confirm whether I am an employee. Thorleifsson wrote, "You have not responded to my emails."
Thorleifsson is a creative designer and father to two children. He lists himself as a director at Twitter in Reykjavik (Iceland) Ueno, a creative agency he founded, was purchased by Twitter in 2021. It lists offices in Iceland and Los Angeles.
Musk replied four hours after Thorleifsson had tweeted. "What work are you doing?" The CEO wrote.
Thorleifsson replied that he would need permission to publish his work at Twitter from the lawyers. Musk responded with a tweet: "It's approved. You go ahead."
Thorleifsson listed many of his responsibilities and accomplishments, including hiring designers, helping to appeal to younger customers, and leading projects to "level-up design throughout the company."
"Level up from what design? Musk wrote, "Pics or it didn’t happen." "We haven’t hired design positions for four months. What were your changes to help the youths?
Thorleifsson said that he couldn't access any documents or photos as evidence because his computer was locked.
Musk also uploaded a clip from 1999 comedy "Office Space," asking Thorleifsson, "Would it be true that you are a people person?"
This meme clip shows an employee who is frustrated and trying to justify his position to two managers.
–Elon Musk (@elonmusk), March 7, 2023
"Yes! I am a people person!" Thorleifsson replied to Musk's joke.
Thorleifsson responded to Musk's question by writing "Figma" along with "all active design project," and the billionaire replied with two laughing emojis.
Thorleifsson tweeted later that Twitter's head for human resources had emailed Thorleifsson to confirm that he was no longer employed at the company. "Now, the next question is: if you will ensure that I get paid as per my contract?" He tweeted.
Musk didn't respond to our request for comment at midnight EST.
Thorleifsson, after his conversation with Musk, tweeted that he was okay with being laid off. He also said that it was fair enough.
"Companies allow people to go, that's their right. Thorleifsson said that although they usually inform people about it, this is now an optional part of Twitter.
He said that his next priority is to receive his severance payment as per his contract.
Thorleifsson posted another photo, showing that he uses an electric wheelchair.
–Halli (@iamharaldur) March 7, 2023
Thorleifsson manages a fund that constructs wheelchair ramps in Iceland.
In November, several former employees of Twitter with disabilities filed a class-action lawsuit against the social media giant. They claimed that Musk's demands for work after he assumed control of the company broke California state and federal discrimination laws.
Dmitry Borodaenko was an engineer who was laid off following Musk's acquisition. He claimed in the lawsuit that he had been a cancer survivor. He was fired after telling his manager that he would prefer to work remotely. According to the lawsuit, he requested the leave because he was concerned about his "extra risk" from COVID-19.
Insider reached out to Musk, Twitter and Thorleifsson for comment but they did not respond immediately.
—————————————————————————————————————————————
By: mloh@insider.com (Matthew Loh)
Title: Elon Musk publicly trolled a Twitter employee who wanted to know if they still had their job: ‘What work have you been doing?’
Sourced From: www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-asks-twitter-employee-justify-work-public-spar-2023-3
Published Date: Tue, 07 Mar 2023 06:47:38 +0000
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