Elon Musk’s X Fired Worker for Protesting Return-to-Office Policy, Labor Board Alleges

Elon Musk’s X has come under fresh fire for the mass layoffs that followed Musk’s takeover of the company in 2022 — this time, the allegations come from U.S. watchdog the National Labor Relations Board, which alleged Musk fired an employee after they voiced concerns over the company’s return-to-office policy. 

This is the NLRB’s first formal complaint against employment practices at X, formerly known as Twitter. CNBC was the first to report the claim.

The NLRB complaint alleged the company has "been interfering with, restraining, and coercing employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed" under federal labor laws.

The allegations were made in the wake of the dismissal of Yao Yue, a principal software engineer who was fired after she supported other employees’ “concern and outrage” and tried to organize an employee-wide response to the company’s sudden switch to in-person work after Musk acquired Twitter.

“If you can physically make it to an office and you don’t show up, resignation accepted,” Musk had told employees back in 2022, according to the NLRB’s complaint.

“After 12 amazing years and 3 weeks of chaos, I’m officially fired by Twitter,” Yue posted to X on Nov. 15 after she was laid off. “Never expected I would have stayed this long, and never expected I would be this relieved to be gone.”

The Labor Board also alleged that Musk told his team to scan Slack and other internal communication channels “in order to identify who should be fired” after his take over.

“Ms. Yue alleges that Twitter chose her for layoff in retaliation for her attempt to organize her co-workers not to resign, so they would have better legal footing to challenge any separation from Twitter,” the NLRB’s complaint alleged.

In a court case slated for January 2024, the NLRB is seeking to make Yue “whole” for any “direct or foreseeable pecuniary harm, as well as other consequential damages suffered as a result of” Musk’s actions.