LOS ANGELES -- For months, as the will-they, won't-they acquisition drama between Elon Musk and Twitter dragged on, Helen-Sage Lee held firm in her belief that the social media company was a workplace worth supporting.
"We all believed in the product so much that most of us decided to stay to see it through," Lee, who worked on the platform's account-integrity team, said of the purchase and job insecurity it introduced for employees. "And I felt assured in doing so because of the severance that HR and legal promised in May, and again in October."
Yet that assurance was misplaced, Lee now says. With the help of Calabasas, Calif.-based attorney Lisa Bloom, Lee has filed an arbitration claim against Musk for not following through on financial obligations she contends Twitter's newest CEO now holds.
It's one of several such legal actions brewing in the wake of the billionaire's chaotic and layoff-intensive tech takeover, which, amid a sectorwide downturn, has left outgoing Twitter staffers scrambling for money, employment and a sense of closure.
On Nov. 3, only days after his $44 billion purchase closed, Musk made good on rumors of mass layoffs with a companywide email. That night, Lee anxiously watched as co-workers flooded Twitter's online workplace with saluting emojis and blue hearts.
And then it was Lee's turn. Her laptop shut down at 9 p.m., she said, and her company access was revoked.
"This was when I felt truly alone," she said.
Yet perhaps the toughest blow of all came a day later when, on Nov. 4, the company sent out more details about the layoffs.
"We received information that the severance package we were expected to receive in the coming week would be far less than what was initially promised to us prior to the acquisition," Lee said during a news conference this week hosted by her attorney. "The severance package was a constant in a turbulent time ... and many of us are ready to take legal action."
Musk has claimed repeatedly that staff he laid off will receive three months of severance pay. But the terms of his deal to purchase Twitter obligate him to provide a severance package "no less favorable" than the one promised by prior leadership, which is the basis for the arbitration claim Lee now seeks.
The pre-acquisition package offered at least two months' worth of severance pay, as well as prorated performance bonuses, extended visa support, money for healthcare continuation and the cash value of equity that would vest within three months, according to laid-off employees and company documents.
Internal emails indicate that those who were cut are now stuck in a limbo of "non-active" work, wherein they remain nominally employed -- and keep getting paid -- for a few months but don't actually work for the company.
There's been confusion among these employees as to whether the pay they're currently getting is their severance or a normal wage. It's common for companies to offer two months' worth of severance pay to get through the mandatory 60-day waiting period required amid large-scale layoffs under the federal WARN Act.
"Twitter employees like [Lee] were told in writing by HR or legal that after the acquisition they would get the same severance benefits that Twitter employees got before the acquisition," Bloom said. "That is an enforceable promise."
"They're being paid until January 4, [but] there's a complete lack of clarity as to whether, if they get another job during this time period, they will continue to get that pay," explained Bloom. "The severance that was promised previously also entitles them to their prorated bonuses and to their stock vesting up to three months after their last day. ... That's what they're being deprived of."
Two more laid-off employees, Amir Shevat and Adrian Trejo Nunez, also spoke at the recent conference; both are pursuing their own arbitration claims against Musk. Most Twitter employees waived their right to pursue a class-action suit when they were on-boarded by the company, Bloom said, thus requiring the pursuit of individual arbitration claims.
"The way Elon Musk executed the layoffs was really inhumane," said Shevat, who was the head of product for Twitter's developer platform.
Nunez, who was a senior software engineer, added: "I came forward to help myself and my former tweeps" -- or Twitter employees -- "receive our severance that was outlined in the agreement, which has since changed."
Bloom said she has other clients too, and is actively soliciting more laid-off Twitter employees to join her.
"My law firm represents a large group of Twitter workers and contractors, and we will continue to file these cases, one by one, bombarding Twitter with claims," she said. "We are hitting Twitter and Elon with every applicable claim, from promissory estoppel, to breach of contract, to breach of their implied agreement, to violation of the WARN Act, to civil-rights violations."
Bloom isn't the only one moving against Musk.
Last week, attorney Akiva Cohen sent a letter to the tech mogul threatening a legal campaign on behalf of his own cohort of laid-off Twitter employees.
"If you don't unequivocally confirm by Wednesday, December 7, that you intend to provide our clients with the full severance Twitter promised them, we will commence an arbitration campaign on their behalf," Cohen wrote.
As with Bloom's clients, Cohen said he'd pursue each complaint one by one and added that Twitter would have to pay for the arbitration fees per California law.
"Not only will you lose on the merits, but even if you somehow won, the victory would by pyrrhic," the attorney said. "Twitter will pay far more in attorneys' fees and arbitration costs than it could possibly 'save' in severance due."
In outlining his legal case, Cohen cited the same contract terms Bloom is drawing on, stating that Musk is obligated to match the pre-acquisition severance packages, including employee bonuses and vested stocks.
He also said that some of his clients have reported that Twitter isn't providing them their 401(k) deductions and company matches, among other corporate benefits. "I'm sure I don't need to warn you that's a bad idea," Cohen said.
The attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment as to how many clients he's working with or whether Musk has submitted any response to the letter. Twitter, which no longer has a formal communications team, could not be reached for comment.
Information for this article was contributed by Jaimie Ding of The Los Angeles Times (TNS).