Three Twitter executives from the period before the Elon Musk takeover are suing their former employer in the Delaware Court of Chancery. The group consists of former CEO Parag Agrawal, former CFO Ned Segal, and former chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde. Each of them worked at Twitter for several years, and each has been involved in legal proceedings related to their work for the company. Musk fired them after his takeover.
Last fall, the three former executives were named as defendants in a securities class action in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. This lawsuit, Baker v. Twitter, claims that Twitter knew about issues with security on its platform and not only refused to address these problems but also actively tried to conceal the problems from the public and regulators. Former head of security Peiter Zatko blew the whistle on these issues, allegedly causing the share price of Twitter to drop significantly.
Gadde is a defendant in a separate lawsuit, D’Ambly v. Exoo, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. The plaintiff is a right-wing activist who was allegedly fired by the New York Daily News after a left-wing activist “doxxed” him (revealed his personal information) on Twitter.
All three former executives also incurred expenses related to federal investigations involving Twitter. Agrawal and Segal became involved in probes into Twitter by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice. Meanwhile, Gadde testified in February at a hearing before the Oversight and Accountability Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. This related to Twitter’s decision to block a New York Post article shortly before the 2020 presidential election about the contents of a laptop belonging to the son of then-candidate, now-President Joseph Biden.
Twitter allegedly failed to reimburse Agrawal, Segal, and Gadde for the attorney fees and other expenses that they incurred in these proceedings. While it acknowledged that it received their demands for payment, the social media company allegedly has not acknowledged its obligation to pay. The lawsuit seeks over $1 million in compensation.
Unlike most lawsuits, this case has no chance of going before a jury. The Delaware Court of Chancery consists of five judges, who are especially knowledgeable in corporate law. They will determine whether and how much Twitter must pay its former executives.
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