Government Backs Ex-Twitter Workers in 9th Cir. Severance Appeal

Laid-off Twitter Inc. employees who say they’re owed severance payments after Elon Musk’s takeover of the company received support from the US Department of Labor in a Ninth Circuit appeal seeking to revive their proposed class action.

The department used its Nov. 1 amicus brief to argue that the workers seek payments under a valid benefit plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, rather than severance policy falling outside the statute’s scope. The plan qualifies for ERISA coverage because it pays benefits on an ongoing basis, regardless of whether it requires “particularized discretion” to administer, the department told ...