Elon Musk publicly bullies disabled employees

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Since Elon Musk (51) took over Twitter, it has been chaos at the social media giant. Whether it’s employees being fired despite enormous efforts, or pro-Russian propaganda spreading more easily thanks to new subscriptions – hardly a week goes by without a negative message from Twitter.

Now comes the next scandal: Boss Musk publicly laughs at a disabled employee. Due to the confused circumstances at the company, Haraldur “Halli” Thorleifsson (45) was no longer sure whether he was still employed.

Musk doubts disability

The starting point of the dispute was a tweet from Thorleifsson: The Icelander, who has been a senior Twitter employee since 2021, was no longer allowed access to the company’s IT systems. Soon after, he learned online that another 200 employees had been laid off. That is why Thorleifsson publicly addressed the Twitter boss: The head of HR was “unable to confirm whether I am still employed or not”. Musk does not respond to emails. So Thorleifsson tries this route.

Musk reacted suspiciously. He asked Thorleifsson what he did in the company. After a list of various management tasks, Musk was still not convinced: “Photos or it didn’t happen,” the CEO replies.

Thorleifsson, who sold his design company Ueno to Twitter in 2021, has suffered from progressive muscular dystrophy since childhood. He has been in a wheelchair since he was 25. A widely known fact that Musk didn’t seem to believe or know about. In another tweet, the Twitter boss joked about the disabled man.

“The reality is that this man wasn’t actually working,” Musk writes. “As an excuse, he claimed he had a disability that prevented him from typing. At the same time, he unleashed a storm of tweets.” The verdict of the Twitter boss: “I can’t say I have much respect for it.”

Thorleifsson, on the other hand, has already gained respect from the UN and the Icelandic government, who have recognized him for his commitment to charity. Thorleifsson initiated, among other things, a project to build more than 1000 wheelchair ramps in the region around the Icelandic capital Reykjavik.

Musk suddenly gives in

Thorleifsson finally explained to Musk about his illness: “I have been unable to do physical work for a long time.” In this case, that means typing or using a mouse without cramping his hands. “I can write for an hour or two at a time.” Under the previous Twitter management, this was not a problem. After all, he was mainly strategically active for the company.

The Twitter boss subsequently apologized to Thorleifsson. He gave a misunderstanding. This “was based on things I’ve been told that aren’t true or, in some cases, are true but don’t make sense,” Musk wrote. According to Musk, Thorleifsson, who has now received the official message, can still remain on Twitter.

Thorleifsson took his resignation calmly: “Usually they tell people up front, but apparently that’s the optional part on Twitter.” Now he wants to know “if Twitter will pay me what they owe me under the contract”.

Source: Blick