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Elon Musk sued by ex-Twitter executive: Claims he & others cheated out of $200 million in severance
The former executive claims Musk falsely accused him and others of misconduct to fire them without cause and avoid paying a combined $200 million in severance.
Elon Musk is being sued by Robert Kaiden, the former chief accounting officer of X (formerly Twitter), Business Insider wrote. Kaiden claims he's owed $3.75 million ( ₹31.28 crore) in unpaid severance.
Kaiden in the complaint, 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 a combined $200 million ( ₹1,668.24 crore) in severance benefits, according to the article.
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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.”
Kaiden said that the committee overseeing his severance claim was a "sham" staffed by employees from Musk's other companies.The committee included Lindsay Chapman and Brian Bjelde, two other defendants who work in human resources at SpaceX, another one of Musk's companies, the article read.
Kaiden is the latest former Twitter executive to sue Musk over claims of unpaid severance, with former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal and three other former senior executives suing Musk earlier this year, collectively asking for $128 million ( ₹1,067.67 crore).
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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 committee denied Kaiden’s claims, saying Kaiden failed to prevent the Twitter board's spending on takeover-related legal expenses, retention bonuses, and "aggressive" growth plans.
Kaiden is seeking about $3.75 million in severance plus interest, according to the article.
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