A federal lawsuit filed in the Northern District of California accusing X (formerly Twitter) of discrimination for its remote work policies was dismissed on Wednesday. The proposed class action asserted that the social media company illegally forced workers with disabilities out after banning employees from working remotely.
U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin wrote that the plaintiff, Dmitry Borodaenko, failed to show how the directive for employees to return to the office during the COVID-19 pandemic specifically affected employees with disabilities. The complaint asserted that employees with disabilities were discharged or constructively discharged in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).
Borodaenko is a former engineering manager for the company and a cancer survivor who alleged that he was fired for refusing to return to the office shortly after the policy was implemented. He asserted that he worked remotely throughout his employment and was told when he was hired that he would always have the option to work remotely.
Elon Musk, who had recently taken over the company, sent out a memo in November 2022 that stated that remote work would no longer be allowed. Musk also stated, according to the complaint, that employees would need to “work [] long hours at high intensity” in order to keep their jobs, and that exceptions would only be made for “exceptional people.”
Further, the complaint alleged, Musk told employees that they would need to be “extremely hardcore,” asking employees who wanted to be “part of the new Twitter” to confirm by clicking an email link by the next day. The employees who did not click the link in time would be assumed to have chosen three months of severance. The complaint asserted that this type of ultimatum added to the discrimination against employees with disabilities.
After the announcement, Musk began a mass layoff that was reported to have affected half of the company. Borodaenko wrote to his manager, stating that he would not be coming into the office because “as [a] cancer survivor I’m at extra risk from Covid (it also counts as a disability).” He was not given any information about how to request a formal exception and was terminated shortly after.
“Borodaenko’s theory improperly relies on the assumption that all employees with disabilities necessarily required remote work as a reasonable accommodation,” Martinez-Olguin wrote in the opinion dismissing the suit. The plaintiff was given the opportunity to file an amended complaint alleging more detailed claims.
Additional Reading
Musk’s ban on remote work at X beats disability bias claim for now, Reuters (August 21, 2024)
Borodaenko v. Twitter Complaint (November 16, 2022)
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