In a recent development, a San Francisco federal judge has allowed a lawsuit against Elon Musk's social media company, referred to as X, to proceed. The lawsuit was filed by Mark Schobinger, formerly the senior director of compensation at Twitter, which was later acquired by Musk's company for $44 billion.

According to the lawsuit, senior officials at X had made verbal promises, both before and after the acquisition, that employees would receive 50% of their 2022 bonuses if they remained with the company through the first quarter of this year. However, it is alleged that these promised bonuses were never paid.

Schobinger, on behalf of himself and approximately 2,000 other current and former employees, filed the lawsuit in May, seeking in excess of $5 million. The lawsuit alleges breach of contract by X.

US District Court Judge Vince Chhabria, appointed by Barack Obama, ruled in favor of Schobinger, stating that he had plausibly stated a breach of contract claim under California law, as he was covered by a bonus plan. Chhabria rejected Twitter's argument that the promise of a bonus was merely an oral agreement and not a binding contract. The judge further ruled that California law governed the case, dismissing Twitter's arguments.

Elon Musk, the world's richest man, acquired Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion, despite its lower valuation. As part of his cost-cutting measures, Musk laid off a significant portion of the acquired company's staff due to cash flow issues and a decline in advertising revenue.

Musk's management style, loose content moderation policies, and controversial posts have led to some major advertisers staying away from the platform. Earlier this year, a pro-Democrat pressure group, Media Matters, reported that ads on X were appearing alongside pro-Nazi content. X responded by accusing Media Matters of manipulating the algorithm to falsely associate the ads with racist content and filed a lawsuit against them.

The Post has reached out to X for comment on the lawsuit, but no response has been received as of yet. It remains to be seen how this legal dispute will unfold and whether the plaintiffs will be awarded the sought-after compensation for the alleged breach of contract and unpaid bonuses.

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