Jonathan Raa/Getty Images
- A lawsuit alleging Twitter discriminated against women was dismissed by the judge on Monday.
- It said "unreasonable" working hours unfairly affected women and cited past apparently-sexist statements from Elon Musk.
- The judge said they should've gone through federal agencies first, but they can refile the complaint.
A lawsuit which alleged Twitter's mass layoffs discriminated against women was dismissed on Monday.
Two former employees first filed the suit last December, a month after Elon Musk laid off half the company's staff. The suit, which Insider has seen, says 57% of female workers were laid off, compared to 47% of males.
It also cited Musk's "unreasonable" demands Twitter staff work 84-hours a week, and the end of the work from home policy.
"Elon Musk would certainly have known that these policy changes and expectations would have a disproportionate impact on women, who are more often caregivers for children and other family members, and thus not able to comply with such demands," the suit said.
However, US District Judge Jon Tigar dismissed the case because the plaintiffs hadn't first attempted to resolve the complaint through federal agencies.
Tigar added that the layoffs and long working hours are "two discrete acts insufficient to support the allegation that discriminatory conduct was 'a routine and regular part' of Twitter's workplace."
The plaintiffs are able to amend and refile their lawsuit.
Shannon Liss-Riordan, a lawyer for the former Twitter employees, told Bloomberg she will indeed file a new complaint.
"The ultimate decision-maker in these layoffs, Elon Musk, has a history of making hostile and demeaning comments about women," Liss-Riodan told the news outlet. One such comment she alleged Musk said was: "It is more important for women to have babies than careers."
"It is not hard to make the connection as to why the managers acting closely under his supervision laid off more of the women at Twitter, particularly female engineers, than men," she added.
The suit included other apparently sexist statements from Musk, but the judge said "isolated remarks, unrelated to the discriminatory employment decision, are generally insufficient to establish discriminatory intent."
On Monday, Insider's Kali Hays reported that Twitter staff are growing increasingly frustrated over a drastic cut to its parental leave policy.
Insider contacted Twitter for comment. The company responded with an automated message that didn't address the inquiry.