How Twitter abandoned its former employees in Ghana without severance pay for months

Former employees of Twitter Africa, who were laid off as part of a global cost-cutting measure following Elon Musk’s acquisition, have not received any severance pay more than seven months since leaving the company, according to multiple sources interviewed by CNN.

The former employees, based in Accra, Ghana, accepted Twitter’s offer in late May for three months’ worth of severance pay, repatriation costs, and legal expenses. However, they have not received the agreed-upon compensation or any further communication from the company, the sources revealed.

“They literally ghosted us,” one former Twitter Africa employee told CNN. They expressed disappointment, noting that while former staff in other locations eventually received settlements, the Africa team has been left without any resolution, despite agreeing to specific negotiated terms.

Carla Olympio, an attorney representing the former employees, criticized Twitter’s unethical implementation of the layoffs, violating its own promises and Ghanaian laws. She expressed disappointment in the prolonged negotiation process and the subsequent silence from the company.

“Unfortunately, it appears that after having unethically implemented their terminations in violation of their own promises and Ghana’s laws, dragging the negotiation process out for over half a year, now that we have come to the point of almost settlement, there has been complete silence from them for several weeks,” Olympio said.

Olympio stated that the former staffers are exploring legal options against Twitter in various jurisdictions, including Ghana.

The former employees reluctantly agreed to the severance package without benefits, even though it was lower than what their counterparts in other regions received. Another former employee shared that Twitter was unresponsive until they accepted the three-month offer, as the team was stressed, exhausted, and tired of the uncertainty, not wanting to undertake the burdens of a legal battle.

Read also: Twitter fires more than 50 employees in 8th layoff round since Elon Musk’s takeover

The former employees spoke on the condition of anonymity due to non-disclosure agreements they signed as part of their exit terms.

Carla Olympio, stated that the last communication from Twitter or its lawyers occurred in May, shortly after the settlement was agreed upon.

Twitter has not responded on the status of the severance package for the former employees in the Ghana office, instead they sent an automated response in the form of a poop emoji. It remains unclear whether Twitter still has a media relations department.

According to Ghana’s Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations, and a spokesperson  they are investigating the claims. However, it remains uncertain whether Ghanaian authorities have the power to compel Twitter to comply with the settlement.

The former employees and their attorney mentioned that the settlement offer was never finalized, adding to their frustrations and concerns.

Read also: Elon Musk limits Twitter reading to 600 tweets per day for unverified users

Ghana and other Twitter mishaps

The employees were laid off just four days after Twitter opened a physical office in Accra in November of the previous year. Some of the affected individuals had moved to Ghana from other African countries and relied on their jobs at Twitter to support their legal status in the country.

Twitter and Elon Musk currently face multiple lawsuits from former employees alleging non-payment of owed compensation. In a recent lawsuit, a former US employee claimed that Twitter did not fulfill its promise of severance benefits, offering only three months’ pay instead of the agreed-upon six months of base pay plus additional benefits.

In April, Musk revealed that over 6,000 people had been laid off since his acquisition of Twitter in late October.

Twitter initiated negotiations with the African team only after CNN reported in November that the separation terms offered to them differed from those provided to departing staff in Europe and North America.