Three top Twitter executives who were fired by Elon Musk when he took over the business last year filed a lawsuit on Monday, seeking reimbursement for the costs of litigation, investigations, and congressional inquiries connected to their former positions.
In the action, ex-CEO Parag Agrawal and the company’s former senior legal and finance officers argue that they are owed more than $1 million and that Twitter is legally obligated to pay them.
As is customary, Twitter responded to an AFP request for comment with a poop emoji.
The court statement detailed various expenses connected to investigations by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ), but it did not specify the scope of the investigations or whether they were still continuing.
Agrawal and then-chief financial officer Ned Segal provided testimony to the SEC last year and “have continued to engage with federal authorities,” according to court documents.
The SEC is investigating whether Musk complied with securities rules when he amassed Twitter shares.
Former Twitter chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde was called on to take part in a US congressional hearing about big tech and free speech following Musk’s release late last year of so-called “Twitter Files” related to the site’s content moderation.
Gadde was also named as a defendant in a lawsuit by a man who claimed he was “doxed” at Twitter as a white supremacist, the filing said.
Musked fired Agrawal, Gadde, and Segal in late October after completing his disputed $44 billion takeover of Twitter.
The three former executives claim Twitter is obligated to reimburse them but has done nothing more than acknowledge receipt of their invoices.
After taking over Twitter, Musk swiftly reduced the number of staff, raising concerns about the platform’s reliability and ability to combat misinformation and other abuse.
Complaints have also been lodged accusing Twitter of failing to pay rent or other fees, despite Musk’s pledge to “cut costs like crazy.”
