An ex-Twitter security executive asserted that X undertook a number of cost-cutting approaches which would threaten the firm's capability to meet its various requirements and regulations. The former staffer declared that he was fired a few days after expressing his objections, and that he was "dismissed in an inexplicable manner," advocates wrote in the legal action.
Alan Rosa, the former global head of security, information technology, and privacy at Twitter, filed a complaint late Tuesday in U.S. district court for New Jersey against X, Elon Musk, and Steve Davis, a company advisor. Rosa, who was based in New Jersey when employed with Twitter, was responsible for a global security and IT team of 500 employees dispersed across the U.S. His complaint follows other recent legal filings by former Twitter staff, and pertains to the large-scale cost-saving initiatives implemented by Musk when he purchased the platform for $44 billion last year.
Rosa claims that Davis, at the direction of Musk, cut essential procedures that enabled adherence to various regulations such as the Federal Trade Commission consent decree and the European Commission's Digital Services Act. These laws necessitate online platforms of considerable size to document and monitor unlawful content or risk penalties of up to 6% of annual sales. Rosa objected to the termination of an "ethical hacking program called 'HackerOne'" and other "vulnerability management software" used to comply with the FTC decree, as well as Davis' directive to discontinue the use of Salesforce, which stored data necessary to communicate with law enforcement. Rosa further alleged that Davis ordered a 50% cut to the physical security budget within hours, causing a risk to public safety as the building then stored over 800 laptops subject to litigation holds.
Rosa says he was fired a few days after voicing his objections and has brought the suit against X, claiming they violated employee-related laws like the New Jersey Conscientious Employee Protection Act, New York and California labor rules, and the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. The lawsuit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
A spokesperson from X has yet to respond to a request for comment. In October, Yao Yue, a former Twitter software engineer, also filed a lawsuit against the company, claiming her termination violated the National Labor Relations Act following her involvement in organizing colleagues concerned about Musk's immediate changes to work policies.
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