• The Workplace Relation Commission has found that not clicking yes when asked to accept new hardcore workplace conditions doesn’t constitute a resignation.
• The commission ordered Twitter, now X, to pay a former executive €550 000 after it was determined he was unfairly dismissed.
• Twitter’s legal counsel tried and failed to argue that the employee knew what they were doing by not clicking yes.

One of the many, many changes Elon Musk made to Twitter when he took ownership of the platform was to demand that employees commit to long hours and high intensity with a single click.

In an email in 2022, Musk told employees they needed to accept an “extremely hardcore” workplace culture and if they didn’t that would be tantamount to a resignation. Now, that move is set to cost X €550 000.

This figure was awarded by the Workplace Relations Commission in Ireland in an unfair dismissal case where a former senior executive, Gary Rooney was dismissed. The executive reportedly didn’t click “yes” in the aforementioned email and so he was let go. According to a report by RTE, Rooney says Twitter refused to engage with him or his solicitor (legal representative).

The WRC found that not clicking “yes” cannot be seen in the same vein as a resignation and was more of a dismissal. To that end, the dismissal was said to be unfair in the absence of substantial grounds to justify termination of employment.

The commission tore into the matter in its 73-page ruling.

WRC adjudication officer Michael MacNamee said in his decision that allowing 24 hours to respond this email couldn’t be considered “reasonable notice”.

“No employee when faced with such a situation could possibly be faulted for refusing to be compelled to give an open-ended unqualified assent to any of the proposals,” said MacNamee.

Indeed, Musk’s demand that employees accept the new terms of “working long hours at high intensity” with no mention of better pay or otherwise put employees in a precarious situation, using continued employment as the carrot on the end of a whip. Counsel for Rooney, Arthur Cush BL argued that it was impossible for the executive to know what package he was offered or the implications of staying at Twitter if he clicked yes.

Twitter’s representative’s in the matter tried and failed to argue that Rooney’s departure was of his own design and that he was responsible for not clicking yes. Ultimately, the company was ordered to pay Rooney compensation for unfair dismissal, as well as a fee for the loss of prospective earnings.

Whether this ruling will open the gates for other employees to pursue same is unclear at this stage. However, with that having been said, this sets something of a precedent and we wouldn’t be surprised to hear that X’s legal team is inundated with lawsuits similar to this one in future.