Elon Musk is sued by another ex-Twitter exec, who says top bosses were 'cheated' out of $200 million in severance

Tom Carter
Updated ·2 min read

  • Elon Musk is facing another lawsuit over his turbulent takeover of Twitter.

  • Twitter's former chief accounting officer says he's owed $3.75 million in unpaid severance.

  • Earlier this year, four other ex-senior Twitter execs sued Musk, alleging unpaid severance.

Elon Musk's legal battles keep piling up — and now he's facing a lawsuit from another former Twitter executive.

According to a lawsuit filed with the Northern District Court of California this month, the billionaire is being sued by Robert Kaiden, Twitter's former chief accounting officer. He claims he's owed $3.75 million in unpaid severance.

In the complaint, Kaiden said Musk, who bought Twitter in October 2022, falsely accused him and other Twitter executives of misconduct to fire them without cause and avoid paying millions in severance.

The complaint says that Musk "cheated" Kaiden and other executives out of a combined $200 million in severance benefits and that the committee overseeing Kaiden's severance claim was a "sham" staffed by employees from Musk's other companies.

Musk and X Corp., formerly known as Twitter, did not immediately respond to a request for comment made outside normal working hours.

Kaiden is the latest former Twitter executive to sue Musk over claims of unpaid severance. Earlier this year, former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal and three other former senior executives sued Musk, collectively asking for $128 million.

Musk also faces lawsuits from employees he laid off shortly after taking over Twitter in 2022.

Kaiden, who had been Twitter's chief accounting officer since 2015, worked to ensure Musk's takeover of the social-media giant went smoothly, the lawsuit says.

He also oversaw a payroll audit to ensure Twitter's employees were "real humans" out of Musk's concern that "ghost employees" still on the books would be given scheduled bonuses, The New York Times reported.

The lawsuit says Kaiden received a letter on November 2, 2022, informing him he had been terminated immediately for "gross negligence or willful misconduct in the performance of [his] duties." The suit says Kaiden also didn't receive his final paycheck from the company.

It adds that Kaiden's claim for severance benefits was reviewed by a committee staffed by Lindsay Chapman and Brian Bjelde, two other defendants who the complaint says work in human resources at SpaceX, another one of Musk's companies.

That claim was denied, with the committee saying Kaiden failed to prevent the Twitter board's spending on takeover-related legal expenses, retention bonuses, and "aggressive" growth plans — responsibilities Kaiden claims were "invented" to justify his firing.

Chapman and Bjelde did not immediately respond to a request for comment made outside normal working hours.

Kaiden is seeking about $3.75 million in severance plus interest.

Got a tip? Get in touch with this reporter via email at tcarter@businessinsider.com.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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