Musk Stumbles in Bid to Escape Ex-VP’s Twitter Severance Lawsuit

A 14-count lawsuit by a former Twitter Inc. vice president and other employees seeking severance after Elon Musk’s corporate takeover should proceed against Musk himself on a handful of claims, a federal magistrate judge recommended.

Some claims should proceed because Musk’s chief argument in favor of dismissal was presented in a footnote and thus deemed waived, the judge said in a nonbinding report. Musk is entitled to have several of the claims asserted against him dismissed because portions of the case challenge actions Twitter took before Musk was in charge of the company, the judge said.

The report, issued Wednesday in the US District Court for the District of Delaware, also recommended that claims under certain state laws mandating advance notice of mass layoff events move forward. Magistrate Judge Christopher J. Burke said he can’t determine whether these claims can be raised against Musk himself because the parties didn’t present sufficient arguments or case law on that point.

Musk and Twitter successor X Corp. are facing multiple lawsuits by former Twitter employees who say they were wrongly denied severance after the 2022 acquisition. A lawsuit seeking at least $500 million in severance on behalf of about 6,000 employees was dismissed last year and an appeal is pending in the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

The instant case, which wasn’t filed as a class action, involves claims by six former Twitter employees, including former vice president of real estate and workplace Tracy Hawkins. In an earlier report, Burke recommended trimming some claims against X, Twitter, and Musk while allowing others to proceed.

Burke’s latest report also recommended that two plaintiffs, Laura Chan Pytlarz and Wolfram Arnold, be allowed to press state law claims of sex and sexual orientation discrimination against both Twitter and Musk.

The case is assigned to Judge Jennifer L. Hall, who can accept, reject, or modify Burke’s conclusions.

The employees are represented by Christensen Law LLC and Kamerman, Uncyk, Soniker & Klein PC. The defendants are represented by Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP.

The case is Arnold v. X Corp., 2025 BL 5869, D. Del., No. 1:23-cv-00528, magistrate report 1/8/25.