Peter H. Taylor, Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR)’s one-time Manager of data center deployment, last week filed suit against the California-based company that he was terminated in September 2013, in spite of earning performance reviews that met or exceeded expectations; Taylor was 57 years old at the time. SFGate reported Wednesday.
In the suit, his attorney claims he was an excellent employee, saying he “saved [Twitter] over 10 million dollars in the expansions of [its] data centers.” But being 20 to 30 years senior of his co-workers proved to be too much for them, and they sent him on his way after two and a half years at the company.
Taylor received further stock for good performance just six months before termination and also received “meet expectation evaluation.” Just six weeks before termination. He was terminated without warning, notice, and explanation. The company did not give him opportunity to discuss any concerns defendants might have. Taylor’s manager had given Taylor “at least one critical mark” about his age. Employees in posts similar to Taylor are younger than him and Taylor was replaced with several employees in their 20’s and 30’s, the suit further claims.
Taylor’s firing notably came just a month after he underwent surgery. He was diagnosed with kidney stones in April 2013 and underwent surgery in May and August, thus visited the doctor frequently before and after his surgery. Due to which he could not dedicate much of his time to work than he did in the past. He requested for additional persons to help him with his responsibility due to his illness, but the company refused to accommodate any assistance. Instead they assigned added workload apart from his regular responsibilities.
The lawsuit is seeking an unspecified amount of damages, including the legal fees.
Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) spokesman Jim Prosser said in an e-mail that the case is without merit and the company “will vigorously defend ourselves against it.”
