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- Elon Musk apologized on Tuesday for mocking a former Twitter employee who has muscular dystrophy.
- Musk had accused the employee of not doing "actual work" and told him to justify why he should keep his job.
- A lawyer told Insider Musk's behavior shows a "hostile" mindset toward people with disabilities.
Elon Musk has apologized for publicly accusing a former Twitter employee of doing "no actual work" because of his disability.
Haraldur Thorleifsson, an Iceland-based entrepreneur and former Twitter employee, ended up in a public exchange with CEO Elon Musk. During this exchange, Thorleifsson tried to figure out if he had been fired from the tech company.
But on Tuesday, Musk publicly trolled Thorleifsson in a series of tweets questioning his value at the company. Musk then said Thorleifsson used his disability as an excuse to work less. Thorleifsson has muscular dystrophy.
Musk tweeted: "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."
Amid the Twitter back-and-forth, Thorleifsson said he received a confirmation from Twitter's HR department that he no longer works there.
On Tuesday, after much public scrutiny, Musk backtracked, saying he spoke to Thorleifsson over a call. He then apologized and invited Thorleifsson back to work at the company.
Musk also said that Thorleifsson is "considering remaining at Twitter."
—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 7, 2023
Thorleifsson has been open about living with muscular dystrophy
Thorleifsson has tweeted about how he's lived with muscular dystrophy, saying that he started using a wheelchair when he was 25 years old.
"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," he tweeted.
Thorleifsson said he told Twitter's HR department that his disability had started affecting his hands. This meant he couldn't type on a computer for more than an hour or two at a time. He was able to tweet from his phone because he only had to use one finger, he said.
He added that his disability didn't significantly affect his role before Musk's takeover of Twitter, because his job mostly involved guiding teams instead of performing manual work on computers.
Thorleifsson did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
This is not the first time Twitter has been scrutinized by disabled employees for its workplace practices. In November, disabled employees at Twitter filed a class-action lawsuit against the company, saying Musk's new "extremely hardcore" work culture and orders to "work long hours at high intensity" forced them to resign.
Employment lawyer: "You would think that someone would be a bit more sensitive."
Nicholas P. Connon, an employment attorney based in Los Angeles, told Insider that while Musk apologized for his public accusations, his allegations that someone would use their disability as a "crutch" were "concerning."
"It tends to show a mindset that is hostile towards people with disabilities when you start questioning their integrity, in terms of whether they have a disability — or whether they're trying to use the disability in a way to get out of work," Connon said. "And that's really not the appropriate thing to do."
Connon also pointed out that Musk himself has been vocal about living and working with a disability. During a 2021 appearance on Saturday Night Live, Musk revealed that he has Asperger's, an autism spectrum disorder.
"And so you would think that someone who you know has their own situation would be a bit more sensitive to someone who was saying they have a disability," Connon said.
Elon likes to respond quickly to situations, lawyer says
Connon told Insider that he had a "certain appreciation" that Musk is a CEO who talks to his employees, but said that this debacle with Thorleifsson was "a bit unusual."
"There's something positive about that, but also some potentially negative consequences," Connon said.
As someone who represents employers, Connon said that most lawyers would counsel against having such communications publicly. In California, Connon pointed out, employers run the risk of violating employee privacy laws.
"Sometimes I get the impression that Elon likes to respond quickly to situations and post things like ad-libs," Connon said. He added that it is "interesting" that someone in Elon's position would respond to a question about HR issues on Twitter.
Connon added that there's a reason why an HR department would be in charge of responding to employees — because "they are a bit more informed and they are a bit more understanding of the complexities of the employment laws."
Thorleifsson, who is based in Reykjavik, Iceland, joined Twitter as a full-time employee in 2021 after Twitter acquired Ueno, a creative agency he founded. He was named by several Icelandic media outlets as the nation's person of the year for 2022 and was praised for taking wages at Twitter — rather than being paid out for his company — to pay more taxes in Iceland.
Connon said it is difficult to determine what employment laws protect Thorleifsson since he is based in Iceland. The details of his contract are also not public knowledge.
Representatives for Twitter did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.