A federal judge has ruled against Elon Musk’s attempt to avoid severance pay for former Twitter executives, including former CEO Parag Agrawal, who was fired in Musk’s 2022 acquisition of the social media platform. The ruling paved the way for Agrawal and others to pursue their compensation claims, alleging that Musk deliberately terminated them to avoid contractual payments.

The case, filed in March, hinges on the timing of Musk’s decision to fire Agrawal, along with former Twitter executives Vijaya Gadde, Ned Segal and Sean Edgett. According to court documents, the executives argue that Musk’s decision to fire them immediately after the acquisition was intended to deny them substantial severance payments. In his biography, Musk allegedly told writer Walter Isaacson that he was interested in completing the deal quickly to avoid a “$200 million spread between closing tonight and closing tomorrow morning.”

This case adds to the growing list of legal disputes Musk faces over employee compensation following his acquisition of Twitter, now rebranded as X Corp. Musk’s aggressive restructuring of the company included laying off thousands of employees, some of whom have filed claims for unpaid compensation. . They argue that Musk failed to comply with compensation agreements established before the acquisition.

While Musk and X Corp. won a $500 million class-action lawsuit in July brought by former Twitter employees seeking compensation under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, other cases have been inclined in favor of employees. In September, a private arbitration session awarded compensation to a former staff member, potentially setting a precedent for others bringing similar claims.

US District Judge Maxine Chesney’s recent ruling also blocked Musk’s attempt to dismiss a related claim brought by former “core technology” general manager Nicholas Caldwell. Caldwell, who claims he was denied compensation, is seeking $20 million in lost compensation.