Twitter failed to pay bonuses owed to employees, a judge found Friday, putting whatever's left of the company on the hook for a few more million dollars no-one will ever see. The ruling concerned a lawsuit brought by one of those affected, Mark Schobinger, who was Twitter's senior director of compensation before leaving the company earlier this year.
In denying Twitter's motion to dismiss the case, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria ruled that Schobinger plausibly stated a breach of contract claim under California law and he was covered by a bonus plan. "Once Schobinger did what Twitter asked, Twitter's offer to pay him a bonus in return became a binding contract under California law. And by allegedly refusing to pay Schobinger his promised bonus, Twitter violated that contract," the judge wrote.
Twitter's defenses were, reportedly, that the bonuses were only verbal agreements never put in writing and that Texas law should apply instead of California's. Schobinger is one of a vast array of employees, consultants, vendors, landlords and others stiffed by Twitter since Elon Musk bought it and now suing the company, half-heartedly rebranded "X" by the new management.
