On April 3, 2025, the Paris Court of Appeal ruled that Twitter France must pay nearly €90,000 to a former employee, Ms. G., due to unfair dismissal and moral harassment. The ruling, reviewed by Le Monde, is notable because it establishes that aggressive emails sent by Elon Musk to Twitter employees can be considered moral harassment under French law.
Ms. G., an employee at Twitter’s French office, was on maternity leave when Elon Musk took control of Twitter in late October 2022. She received an email in her personal inbox indicating that her position was at risk due to the new CEO’s cost-cutting measures. Subsequently, like all Twitter employees, she received a series of “threatening emails” from Musk, often at odd hours in Paris time, as noted in the court ruling.
These emails demanded that employees commit to doubling their efforts and often required responses within 24 hours under threat of dismissal. In some instances, responding required access to Twitter’s internal tools. As Ms. G. was on maternity leave without access to her work computer, she had to contact human resources. The court’s decision includes €58,000 in damages for the harassment and unfair dismissal.
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