X Faces Class Action Over Alleged Age Discrimination in Mass Layoffs

A federal judge has ruled that social media platform X (formerly Twitter) must face a class action lawsuit accusing the company of age discrimination following a mass layoff in 2022. The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by former employee John Zeman, who claims that the company disproportionately targeted older workers during the layoffs, impacting 60% of employees aged 50 and older and nearly 75% of those over 60. The lawsuit, which may involve around 150 workers, could expose the company to significant financial damages.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston determined that there is sufficient evidence to support claims of age discrimination, citing the mass layoff as a single decision affecting all potential class members. This ruling will allow Zeman’s legal team to notify other potential claimants, giving them the option to join the class action. X, which has denied engaging in any discrimination, maintains that its decision to eliminate the entire communications department was unrelated to age. The company is also facing multiple other lawsuits stemming from the layoffs, including claims related to severance, gender, and disability discrimination.

These legal challenges have continued to mount since Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, now rebranded as X, which resulted in widespread layoffs affecting more than half of the company’s workforce.