The court ruled in Musk's favor, X Corp does not have to pay arbitration fees

A US appeals court has ruled that Company X (formerly Twitter) cannot be forced to pay the initial costs of arbitration in disputes with employees who were laid off after the takeover by Elon Musk.

Seven former employees claim that X is attempting to obstruct the proceedings by refusing to pay the approximately $1,500 in fees that, according to the rules of the JAMS arbitration tribunal, are to be borne by employers. However, the court found that questions regarding the fees fall within the jurisdiction of the arbitration tribunal itself and not the federal courts.

The decision overturned a New York district court ruling that had previously ruled in favor of the employees. X argues that arbitration was not mandatory because employees had the option to opt out.

Many former employees have already filed lawsuits, and X recently agreed to pay an unspecified amount in California for allegedly unpaid severance payments totaling $500 million.

(reuters, mja)