A federal judge in California has refused to dismiss a lawsuit accusing X, the social media company formerly known as Twitter, of disproportionately firing older workers when Elon Musk acquired the company last year.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston said Tuesday that the plaintiff in the proposed class action lawsuit, John Zeman, had produced enough evidence that the layoffs would have a greater impact on older workers to proceed with the case.
For example, Zeman claims that X fired 60% of workers over 50 and almost three-quarters of those over 60, compared to 54% of workers under 50.
They are suing X, formerly Twitter, for age discrimination
Illston ruled that federal law prohibiting age bias in the workplace allows plaintiffs to file “disparate impact” claims in a class action, an issue that has divided the courts.
The judge also dismissed the allegation that
Shannon Liss-Riordan, Zeman’s attorney, said, “This decision reinforces the arguments we are making that discrimination claims can move forward.”
X did not respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit is one of about a dozen with which
