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What is the status of the settlement?
The case is a proposed class action by former Twitter employees, including Courtney McMillian and Ronald Cooper. In an August 20, 2025 filing, the parties said they had reached an agreement in principle and asked the Ninth Circuit to postpone its scheduled September 17 hearing while they worked to finalize the agreement. Mealey’s reported on the filing; The Associated Press described the deal as tentative.
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| Question | What the public record cited here establishes |
|---|---|
| What amount did the lawsuit seek? | Roughly $500 million in severance and related benefits, according to AP. That is the plaintiffs’ claimed amount, not a confirmed settlement figure. |
| What amount did X agree to pay? | Not publicly disclosed in the cited reports and docket entries. |
| Was the deal final and approved? | The parties reported an agreement in principle. The cited material does not establish final court approval or distribution. |
| When will workers be paid? | No payment date is established in the cited material. |
The Ninth Circuit docket for case 25-5014 later recorded mediation-related activity. A separate district-court entry dated September 3, 2025 recorded that the parties had advised the court of a settlement in principle. Those entries document the procedural status; they do not, on their own, show that workers received money. The Western District of Washington docket entry concerns a related case.
Why did former employees claim they were owed severance?
After Elon Musk acquired Twitter in October 2022, the company made large staff cuts. Former employees alleged that the company did not provide the severance promised under a pre-existing plan. TechCrunch reported that the post-acquisition reductions affected more than 6,000 employees and described a dispute between the company’s severance offer and workers’ claimed entitlement. These are allegations and reporting about the plan, not a finding that every affected employee was owed the same amount. TechCrunch’s account of the case provides background.
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What the lawsuit said the plan provided
According to the allegations described in coverage, Twitter’s 2019 severance plan generally provided many employees with two months of base pay plus one week of pay for each year of service. Certain senior employees were alleged to be eligible for up to six months of base pay. Workers said the post-acquisition offer was approximately three months of severance, with some receiving less than they claimed the plan promised or nothing. Individual entitlement would depend on the plan terms and a worker’s circumstances.
The proposed class action sought roughly $500 million in severance and related benefits. That total was a claim about the group’s alleged losses; it does not show what any individual worker would receive or what amount the parties negotiated.
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How did the lawsuit reach settlement talks?
- October 2022: Musk acquired Twitter, followed by major layoffs.
- 2023: Former employees brought the proposed class action over alleged unpaid severance.
- July 2024: A federal district judge dismissed the class action. The plaintiffs appealed; the dismissal was a procedural ruling, not a determination that workers had been paid the amounts they claimed.
- August 2025: While the appeal was pending in the Ninth Circuit, the parties reported an agreement in principle and sought to postpone oral argument.
KQED’s coverage of the tentative settlement describes the dismissal, appeal and settlement talks.
What still has to happen before a class settlement pays workers?
An agreement in principle signals progress, but it is not the same as a completed payout. In a class action, the parties generally submit a written agreement for court review. If the court permits the proposed settlement to proceed, eligible class members are typically notified and given a chance to respond under the applicable procedures. The court then considers final approval; payment follows only after the settlement’s requirements are satisfied.
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- The parties finalize and sign the settlement terms.
- They submit the proposed agreement to the court for review.
- If the court authorizes notice, the notice explains who may be included and how to object or opt out, where those options apply.
- The court considers whether to grant final approval and resolves any objections or appeals that affect the deal.
- A claims administrator distributes payments under the approved allocation and timetable.
The August 2025 reports and cited docket entries establish an agreement in principle and related procedural steps, not completion of this sequence. They do not disclose eligibility rules, a claims deadline, a claims administrator, individual payment calculations or a distribution date.
What could determine an individual worker’s recovery?
A share of a proposed class settlement is not necessarily the lawsuit’s headline amount divided equally among employees. If a settlement is finalized, the agreement and court-approved notice should set out the class definition and allocation method. A worker’s employment history, salary, eligibility, prior severance payments and the claims covered by the agreement could matter. Attorneys’ fees, administration expenses, taxes and other approved deductions may also affect the amount available or the net amount received.
Former employees should rely on any official notice and court filings for the final answer on inclusion, filing requirements, objections, opt-outs and payment timing. The materials cited here do not establish whether someone who accepted an earlier severance offer, signed a release or worked outside the United States would qualify; those questions depend on final terms and applicable rules.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Is this the same as the former Twitter executives’ case?
No. Former senior executives pursued a separate lawsuit seeking more than $128 million in alleged unpaid severance. That case involved former CEO Parag Agrawal, former CFO Ned Segal, former legal chief Vijaya Gadde and former general counsel Sean Edgett. AP’s report on the executives’ case covers that separate dispute. An agreement in principle in the employee class action does not, by itself, resolve the executives’ claims or every other severance dispute involving X.
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