Ex-Twitter exec gets go-ahead for $20 million severance suit against Elon Musk

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) — A federal judge advanced claims from a former chief marketing officer of what was then Twitter that she is owed $20 million in back pay.

Leslie Berland, who served as the social media platform’s chief marketing officer for seven years when it was known as Twitter, says in her 2024 complaint that she was abruptly fired shortly after Elon Musk took over the company in October 2022.

Berland claims Musk fired her after a meeting with advertisers in October 2022 in which he suggested that he was going to send a tweet teasing the reinstatement of Donald Trump’s account, which blocked at the time.

Berland said that X’s former vice president of global client solutions Jean-Philippe Maheu — whom Berland had recommended to Musk — advised Musk against the move publicly, in a meeting with advertisers. This led Musk to scold Berland for recommending Maheu, according to the complaint. Hours later, both were fired. Maheu is not a party in Berland’s lawsuit.

Berland says she was wrongly denied about $20 million in benefits under X’s severance plan after Musk attempted to paint her termination as being for cause by saying Berland had violated terms of the merger agreement by approving “sweetheart retention and spot bonuses” to X employees and wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars on unapproved jet travel from X’s headquarters.

Berland seeks restitution, disgorgement, back pay and front pay, among other remedies.

“Musk’s belated characterization of Ms. Berland’s termination as ‘for cause’ was done for the unlawful purpose of denying Ms. Berland these benefits,” Berland says in her complaint. “This is consistent with Musk’s long pattern of not paying his bills.”

At a motion to dismiss hearing Thursday morning, U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley ruled from the bench that Berland’s claims will survive at this point.

“At this stage, they have plausibly pled that surcharge is available, so I don’t think I need to address the other things,” Corley told X’s lawyers. “Even with respect to the other argument. I don’t need to hear from you, no offense!”

X attorney Chris Boran pushed back. “You mean all of the other equitable relief? The other equitable relief, such as disgorgement, restitution, front and back pay, doesn’t turn on fiduciary status," Boran said.

The Joe Biden appointee replied: “As long as they plausibly plead the right to at least one equitable remedy, the claims stay. The motion will be denied.”

Corley said she would go into more detail in a written order to be issued later.

Berland’s suit against Musk is one of many severance suits from former employees and executives who worked at the company filed in San Francisco. Last year, a judge advanced a suit from former X CEO Parag Agrawal and other top executives. Agrawal and the other executives claim Musk fired them to avoid paying millions of dollars in severance pay and unvested stock awards.

And another federal judge in San Francisco gave the greenlight to a suit from X investors claiming Musk manipulated X’s stock before he purchased the company.