San Francisco Officials Open Investigation Into Twitter
San Francisco officials are investigating Twitter after six former employees alleged owner Elon Musk’s leadership team broke laws in turning the company’s headquarters into a “Twitter Hotel” for workers who were asked to stay up late to transform the social media platform.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported Thursday that city officials are opening their latest investigation into the company that Musk took over late last year.
That’s after the former employees, including a woman who had been vice president of real estate, alleged in a lawsuit filed in a federal court in Delaware that Twitter didn’t pay them promised severance.
Twitter is seeking to dismiss the case.
They also allege that Musk’s team ordered numerous changes to the company’s headquarters in a 1930s Art Deco building in downtown San Francisco that violated building codes.
Those changes included disabling lights and adding locks that wouldn’t open during an emergency, according to the lawsuit.
One of the plaintiffs is Tracy Hawkins, Twitter’s former vice president of real estate and workplace, who was responsible for managing the company’s physical offices and leases.
The lawsuit says Hawkins wasn’t initially opposed to Musk’s takeover but “was forced to resign when Elon Musk and his transition team insisted that she violate her professional ethics by causing Twitter to intentionally breach its leases and other contracts.”
The lawsuit claims Musk refused to pay rent on the building.
This is not the first time San Francisco officials have tussled with Musk, who bought Twitter for $44 billion in October and dismissed much of its workforce as he converted a part of the company’s headquarters into bedrooms.
This year, San Francisco building inspectors gave Twitter’s construction contractor two weeks to submit a corrected building use permit if the company wanted to keep using two conference rooms as bedrooms.
The city launched an investigation in December after Forbes reported on the beds, prompting owner Musk to lash out at San Francisco Mayor London Breed.
So city of SF attacks companies providing beds for tired employees instead of making sure kids are safe from fentanyl. Where are your priorities @LondonBreed!?https://t.co/M7QJWP7u0N
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 6, 2022
“So city of SF attacks companies providing beds for tired employees instead of making sure kids are safe from fentanyl. Where are your priorities @LondonBreed!?” he tweeted.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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