Former engineer Randall Lin of Twitter (now known as X) has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit after being let go by the company. Lin says he left Twitter abruptly in February 2023, just after Elon Musk took over as the platform’s CEO, after being wrongly accused of leaking material to the media.
In an interview with Zoe Schiffer for her recently published book, “Extremely Hardcore,” Lin detailed his experience, asserting that he was unjustly targeted for leaking confidential information. Schiffer, a managing editor of the tech newsletter Platformer, documented Lin’s account of events, shedding light on the challenges faced by employees during Musk’s tenure at Twitter.
What exactly happened?
Lin became a staff engineer at Twitter in February 2020 after joining as a machine-learning engineer. Dissatisfied with the company’s culture under former CEO Jack Dorsey, Lin welcomed Musk’s takeover in October 2022, hoping for a more dynamic environment. He showed commitment by showing up early and staying late at Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters, meeting and exceeding Musk’s expectations.
Lin’s efforts to impress Musk with innovative ideas, such as proposing that Twitter develop its own GPUs, were recognized by the CEO. However, amid a wave of dismissals aimed at dissenting voices, Business Insider reported that leaks emerged from disgruntled employees at Twitter headquarters. Lin became embroiled in the fallout when he was accused of being the source of two Platformer articles.
Despite denying the allegations and confirming to Schiffer that he had never communicated with her, Lin faced swift consequences. Lin was terminated and his laptop confiscated after meeting with corporate security and being presented with purported evidence linking him to the leaks.
In the aftermath, Lin expressed disappointment at the company’s lack of support, lamenting the betrayal he felt after devoting himself to both his work and shielding his colleagues from potential conflict with Musk.
