Elon Musk apologizes after mocking laid-off disabled Twitter employee Haraldur Thorleifsson, who joined in 2021 after Twitter acquired his startup Ueno

If you're not told you are fired, are you really fired? At Twitter, probably. And then, sometimes, you get your job back — if you want it.

Associated Press 2023-03-08 Barbara Ortutay

Context & Ripple Effects

Twitter’s post-acquisition workforce changes had already included the dismissal of engineers who publicly criticized Musk, followed days later by management’s claim that layoffs were over and hiring had resumed. Thorleifsson’s uncertain employment status makes that shifting personnel process a public governance issue rather than only a headcount reduction.

The episode also sits alongside disputes over the terms of executive exits; later coverage of a full severance award to a former Twitter employee shows that termination decisions can outlast the initial layoff announcement.

First-order effects

Thorleifsson receives a public apology and an apparent option to return, while Musk and Twitter must clarify whether he was terminated and on what terms.
Twitter’s remaining employees get another public example of employment status being handled through Musk’s social-media account rather than a settled internal process.

Second-order effects

Twitter’s HR and legal teams face greater pressure to ensure layoff notices, contracts, and employee records align before individual cases become public disputes.
The incident compounds the reputational cost of earlier dismissals of employee critics, making staff communication and retention harder as Twitter continues to recruit.

Third-order effects

If employment decisions continue to be contested individually, Twitter’s workforce reduction shifts from an operational exercise toward a recurring severance and contract-liability issue, as the later arbitration outcome indicates.
The pattern points to a more personalized employment model at Twitter, where executive public statements can directly shape disputes normally contained within HR processes.

The trend: Twitter’s post-acquisition workforce overhaul is turning personnel decisions into public, individualized disputes with potential contractual consequences.

Discussion

@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
@anothercohen The reality is that this guy (who is independently wealthy) did no actual work, claimed as his excuse that he had a disability that prevented him from typing, yet was simultaneously tweeting up a storm. Can't say I have a lot of respect for that.
@iamharaldur Halli on x
Hi again @elonmusk 👋 I hope you are well. I'm fine too. I'm thankful for your interest in my health. But since you mentioned it, I wanted to give you more info. I have muscular dystrophy. It has many effects on my body. Let me tell you what they are: https://twitter.com/...
@iamharaldur Halli on x
Dear @elonmusk 👋 9 days ago the access to my work computer was cut, along with about 200 other Twitter employees. However your head of HR is not able to confirm if I am an employee or not. You've not answered my emails. Maybe if enough people retweet you'll answer me here?
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
@danielhoughton ... I would like to apologize to Halli for my misunderstanding of his situation. It was based on things I was told that were untrue or, in some cases, true, but not meaningful. He is considering remaining at Twitter.
@williamlegate William LeGate on x
turns out the disabled Twitter employee who Elon publicly ridiculed for asking about the status of his employment sold his company to Twitter for ~$100 million, and the deal was structured in a way which requires payment for the entire deal upon his termination—whoops 🤣 https://t…
@mattbinder Matt Binder on x
there's no reason to treat someone like this just an absolutely horrible person https://twitter.com/...
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
@danielhoughton ... Based on your comment, I just did a videocall with Halli to figure out what's real vs what I was told. It's a long story. Better to talk to people than communicate via tweet.
@epsilontheory Ben Hunt on x
Shot ... chaser. https://twitter.com/...
@voicesbyzane Zane Schacht on x
Every employment lawyer on the planet watching Elon disclose an employee's disability, claim he's faking it, and state it was part of why he was fired. https://twitter.com/...
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
@iamharaldur - Level up from what design to what? Pics or it didn't happen. - We haven't hired design roles in 4 months - What changes did you make to help with the youths?
@jamesclayton5 James Clayton on x
NEW: Elon Musk had deleted a tweet, calling a recently fired employee (who had muscular dystrophy) “The worst”. It had already been viewed half a million times. Here's the screengrab: https://twitter.com/...
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
@iamharaldur Would you say that you're a people person? https://m.youtube.com/...
@iamharaldur Halli on x
Ok, following long threaded back and forth replies on Twitter is a bit complicated, so let me give you the highlights. After no straight answers on my employment status for 9 days I asked @elonmusk to tell me if I had been laid off. He sort of replied...
@kenklippenstein Ken Klippenstein on x
Before vs. after the lawyer calls https://twitter.com/...
@iamharaldur Halli on x
My legs were the first to go. When I was 25 years old I started using a wheelchair. It's been 20 years since that happened. In that time the rest of my body has been failing me too. I need help to get in and out of bed and use the toilet
@goldengateblond Shauna on x
when you finally return your lawyer's call https://twitter.com/...
@paleofuture Matt Novak on x
Also, “better to talk to people than communicate via tweet” is a hilarious indictment of the website you spent $44 billion on https://twitter.com/...
@evacide Eva on x
My favorite piece of gossip about the disabled Icelandic guy that Elon decided to humiliate and fire was that as the CEO of an acquired company, he was on the “do not fire” list because his contract gives him a giant payout if he is fired.
@mnateshyamalan Soul Nate on x
[speaking directly into microphone] firing employees because they have disabilities is an epic win https://twitter.com/...
@stealthygeek Patrick S. Tomlinson on x
Let me see if I have this straight. Elon Musk fires a dude who's owed $100 million if he gets fired. In the process of firing him, Elon revealed and insulted the man's private medical condition, exposing Twitter to a simply massive lawsuit. And people still think he's a genius.
@maxberger Max Berger on x
Elon says that people criticizing him for publicly mocking and firing a man with muscular dystrophy “hurts my faith in humanity.” https://twitter.com/...
@anothercohen Alex Cohen on x
@elonmusk It's obvious he did all middle management work from that exchange but I personally would not put an ex employee on blast and force them to prove their worth in front of 100m+ people
@anothercohen Alex Cohen on x
I'm not going to lie, this is the most entertaining exit interview I've ever witnessed https://twitter.com/...
@mattgertz Matthew Gertz on x
Elon Musk's creation of the views tab is very helpful for defamation lawyers. https://twitter.com/...
@copyconstruct Cindy Sridharan on x
Thinking of the time Elon publicly fired an Android engineer for saying that the app was slow because of technical debt and a full rewrite is needed to address perf problems. 3 months on, Elon himself proposes a full rewrite himself, because a config change caused an outage. 😅 ht…
@mattbinder Matt Binder on x
seems like Musk didn't want to pay the designer he laid off his exit package compensation and thought he could just...avoid letting the guy know if he was employed? https://twitter.com/...
@mattbinder Matt Binder on x
hmm just publicly airing out the private health info of a disabled now-former (apparently) employee can't possibly be any potential issues there https://twitter.com/...
@jamesclayton5 James Clayton on x
To recap: - Twitter employee asks Elon Musk whether he's fired - Musk live interviews him on Twitter - Employee is informed he's sacked - Musk calls him “the worst” in a tweet that he deletes - Musk apologises - Invites employee to return All in 28 hours
@mattbinder Matt Binder on x
after sending thousands of weirdos who believe everything Musk says to attack this guy (and also after likely learning just how much he'd have to payout)... Elon would like everyone to know he was wrong about his employee that he publicly demeaned and fired https://twitter.com/..…
@courtneymilan @courtneymilan on x
It's particularly baffling that Elon made sure to lay out that his grounds for the firing include that Twitter asked Halli to do different work than Halli was hired to do, and that he fired Halli for having a disability that prevented him from doing that different work.
@briggityboppity @briggityboppity on x
elon musk fired a guy with like a $100 million termination contract, fired him because he was disabled, ridiculed and publicly disclosed info about his disability its going to turn into like 5 different massive easy lawsuits & elon fans still act like hes playing 12d chess
@cameronwilson Cameron Wilson on x
i'm sorry, i must have misheard you, i could have sworn you said “elon musk was being a dick about disability of an employee who was just voted Iceland's person of the year last year and then fired him, triggering a clause in the worker's contract that gives an ENORMOUS payout”
@anothercohen Alex Cohen on x
@elonmusk ... This is amazing but I gotta be honest Elon, seeing all of this go down in my replies has been an emotional rollercoaster
@_writtenbyhanna @_writtenbyhanna on x
In case yall missed it lol: the guy that Elon fired was an employee that was actually placed on a VIP employee list because not only was he a huge asset to the company, his severance package was really expensive https://twitter.com/...
@davidzipper David Zipper on x
Easy to be numb to Elon news these days, but this story hits hard. The Twitter staffer who asked if he'd been fired is a 45-year old with muscular dystrophy who has numerous awards for charity & disability rights advocacy. He's an Icelandic hero — and “the worst” per Musk. https:…
@pblest Paul Blest on x
Yeah actually it seems incredibly humiliating to be forced to publicly explain your disability and job duties because your boss couldn't stop tweeting “Concerning” at Catturd long enough to tell you your job doesn't exist anymore https://twitter.com/...
@jackposobiec @jackposobiec on x
Holy shlit https://twitter.com/...
@damedoteth @damedoteth on x
“Better to talk to people than communicate via tweet” probably would've been good to figure this out before spending billions on a platform all about tweeting https://twitter.com/...
@katimcf @katimcf on x
oh my god he basically fired disabled Icelandic Robin Hood https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
@anothercohen He has a prominent, active Twitter account and is wealthy. The reason he confronted me in public was to get a big payout. From what I've been told, he's done almost no work for the past four months, middle-management or otherwise. Despite his claims on Twitter that …
@maxberger Max Berger on x
Halli is an award winning designer whose company was acquired by Twitter. Halli was born with muscular dystrophy in a working class family. He chose a higher tax rate for the sale to pay back into the Icelandic social system. Today, Elon Musk publicly mocked and fired him. https:…
@anthony Anthony DeRosa on x
One of the 10 people Elon regularly interacts with on this website tells him he went too far in criticizing a disabled now-former employee publicly via Twitter. Elon calls the employee “the worst” and then deletes the Tweet. https://www.bbc.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@ingridlunden Ingrid on x
Wow - new low for Elon and Twitter, new high for trolls and normalizing being an ass. Is @iamharaldur really considering staying on after all of this as Elon claims he is? https://twitter.com/...
@roxytall Roxy on x
in the face of being dehumanised to such a huge extent he has the patience of a saint. i wish for tremendous misfortune upon the commenter https://twitter.com/...
@iamharaldur Halli on x
@elonmusk @anothercohen Hi Elon! The reason I asked you in public is because you (or anyone else at Twitter) didn't reply to my private messages. You had every right to lay me off. But it would have been nice to let me know! As for my disability I wrote you about that here: https…
@borgposting Borg on x
https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@iamharaldur Halli on x
Financially it wasn't the best decision. My company was making a lot of money and Twitter's offer was lower than any smart valuation would say. But like you I made a bet on Twitter having a lot more potential than it has had.
@iamharaldur Halli on x
But as I told HR (I'm assuming that's the confidential health information you are sharing) I can't work as a hands on designer for the reasons outlined above. I'm typing this on my phone btw. It's easier for because I only need to use one finger.
@pblest Paul Blest on x
*My lawyer whispers in my ear for six full minutes* Why don't people just talk to each other anymore? https://twitter.com/...
@iamharaldur Halli on x
During my time at the new Twitter, or 2.0 as you called it, I talked to my manager every week and asked what I should focus on. And then I proceeded to do those things. Every one of them.
@williamlegate LeGate on x
elon musk deleted this tweet after a long call from his lawyers 👀 https://twitter.com/...
@barbaraortutay @barbaraortutay on x
If you're not told you are fired, are you really fired? At Twitter, probably. Here's my story on @iamharaldur's surreal experience. https://apnews.com/...
@tszzl Roon on x
ceo of company X: it is better to communicate off of X https://twitter.com/...
@tvietor08 Tommy Vietor on x
This (incredibly polite) Twitter employee is trying to figure out if he's been fired or not because he was never notified and no one has responded to his emails for 9 days, and the response is this childish, dickish mocking. https://twitter.com/...
@grimeandreason Ben King on x
The guy Elon is roasting, who doesn't know if he has a job right now or not, is a working class Icelander with muscular dystrophy who sold his company to Twitter in such a way as to pay back the most tax, in thanks for the support he's received, thus winning multiple PotY awards.…
@carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on x
how it started vs how its going https://twitter.com/...
@athertonkd Kelsey D. Atherton on x
Every day Elon Musk wakes up from three hours of the worst sleep anyone has ever had to yell at his employees until he gets himself involved in a complicated lawsuit. He hopes, each day, that he'll finally make one funny post, but then a goblin with Jack Nicholson's face says no.
@cullend Cullen on x
@mekkaokerekebye I love the part where Elon also disclosed his employee's medical issues. I'm sure that will play well for Elon.
@ordinarygamers @ordinarygamers on x
I'm sure lawyers tore him a new one but it's cool to see an apology. Good on him for that. https://twitter.com/...
@asvanevik Alex Svanevik on x
This guy plays 4D chess 👑 https://twitter.com/...
@williamlegate LeGate on x
idk, dude... admitting you maliciously defamed a disabled employee based on mere hearsay may not be helping your legal case https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@stokel @stokel on x
When your lawyers have told you you are not only on the hook for $100m in termination, but as much in a defamation suit https://twitter.com/...
@elivalley @elivalley on x
(Twitter has rehired an attorney and a crisis manager) https://twitter.com/...
@stevanzetti Steven Monacelli on x
Hey fellas, have you ever accidentally disclosed that you factored an employee's muscular dystrophy disability into your decision to fire them? https://twitter.com/...
@reignofapril @reignofapril on x
Here's more. The $100 million isn't the confirmed sale amount, but we know that... apparently the number is more than Elon has, or he wouldn't have backtracked. 😂 https://twitter.com/...
@karger David Karger on x
I feel like this really ought to be trending on Twitter. https://ethanzuckerman.com/...
@tolstoybb Rachel on x
The whole story is so funny. Guy asks if he's still an employee, Elon doesn't like the tone so tries to publicly humiliate him. Turns out the guy is disabled and famous for being the nicest, most generous guy in Iceland, and is possibly now owed $100mm https://twitter.com/...
@michaelstahlke Michael Stahlke on x
I think an underrated aspect of this whole thing is that Elon Musk has no idea how to embed videos in a tweet. https://twitter.com/...
@aylanx @aylanx on x
“Thorleifsson, who goes by Halli and is well-known for giving back to the community in his home country of Iceland, tweeted that during his exchange with Musk, he received confirmation from Twitter's HR department that he was no longer employed...” https://www.washingtonpost.com/…
@bfriedmandc Brandon Friedman on x
So the background on this cruel, childlike response from Musk is that the Twitter employee, Haraldur Thorleifsson, wasn't just any Twitter employee 🧵 https://twitter.com/...
@mattyglesias Matthew Yglesias on x
tfw you've consulted with your attorneys https://twitter.com/...
@jamesclayton5 James Clayton on x
Elon Musk quizzed an employee that wasn't sure he'd been sacked - on Twitter “What work have you been doing?”, he said After the employee told Musk - he received the news he'd been fired A bizarre situation. He kindly answered a few of my questions https://www.bbc.com/...
@williamlegate William LeGate on x
After an entire day of crisis management & legal meetings, Elon is now begging the disabled ex-Twitter employee who he publicly berated, defamed, and discriminated against& fired to stay at the company. https://twitter.com/...
@bfriedmandc Brandon Friedman on x
This is the funniest thing I've seen in my entire life. Musk had no idea who he was firing last night. https://twitter.com/...
@browtweaten Adam Cerious on x
the sowing the reaping https://twitter.com/...
@bradmossesq Bradley P. Moss on x
This is a supposed billionaire super-genius who spent the last 24 hours publicly trashing and defaming someone based on whatever garbage fire lies his lackies fed him. Maybe, just maybe, Mr. Twitter should log off and get a new CEO in place already. https://twitter.com/...

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