Elon Musk, for once, is sorry.
A day later public assault a disabled former Twitter employee, Musk went back on course and issued a rare apology.
The strange scene began when the employee, Haraldur “Halli” Thorleifsson, a prominent designer, became frustrated after being locked out of his work computer for nine days without a word from the department of human resources on Twitter. Fearing that he was fired as part of the recent job cuts, he turned to Twitter to directly ask its owner — Musk — to explain the status of his job.
Musk saw the tweet and asked Thorleifsson for some basic information. Eventually, Thorleifsson said HR contacted him and eventually shared that he was indeed fired.
But shortly after, in a public conversation with another person, Musk adopted a harsh tone, criticizing Thorleifsson’s work and mocking his work effort. In doing so, Musk referred to Thorleifsson’s disability—he has muscular dystrophy and uses a wheelchair—in possible violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits employers from disclosing an employee’s disabilities.
“The truth is that this guy (who is independently wealthy) doesn’t actually have a job, claims as his excuse that he has a disability that prevents him from typing, but at the same time tweets up a storm,” Musk WRITES. “I can’t say I have a lot of respect for that.”
But late Tuesday, after intense public criticism and the potential for a lawsuit over potential ADA violations, Musk backed down.
“I want to apologize to Halli for my misunderstanding of her situation. It’s based on things I’ve been told that aren’t true or, in some cases, true, but not meaningful,” Musk WRITES.
Musk added that he spoke via video call with Thorleifsson, who lives in Iceland, and said he was “thinking about staying on Twitter.” Thorleifsson did not immediately comment on Twitter about Musk’s apology or whether he would be interested in returning to work for him.
Thorleifsson sold his startup, Uneno, to Twitter in 2021 and, as part of the deal, joined Twitter. He’s been open about his disability and Musk initially responded by detailing how it affects him and how he works on Twitter despite it.
In a thinly veiled criticism of Musk, Thorleifsson also wrote: “You have the right to fire me. But it would be nice to let you know!”
Then Thorleifsson got down to business and talked to Musk about the financial considerations of the layoff. Will Musk, among the richest people in the world, honor Thorleifsson’s contract or “try to avoid paying” – another dig at Musk, who is said to have failed to pay the rent on the offices and stiffened the laid off employees on promised compensation.
“Let me know when you pay what you owe me?” HE SAYS. “I thought you could handle it?
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