Elon Musk is having trouble letting go. Twitter needed to reassure its own laid off employees that an email sent in the early morning on Saturday was “not a phishing attempt” after it went directly to their spam inboxes. The email, sent from twitterseparation@cptgroup.com rather than from an @twitter.com address, contained former Twitter employees’ separation contracts and provided information regarding severance pay.
Former Twitter employee Parker Lyons tweeted on Saturday, “If you were wondering about the current state of Twitter, many folks just received their separation agreements in their spam folders, pointing to a URL that was registered this morning from a vendor with a 1 star [Better Business Bureau] rating.” He continued, “If still there, I would have reported this as phishing.”
The email included login information for the CPT Group website where the ex-employees were told they could view the full separation agreement, but many remained unsure if it was legit. Twitter’s Human Resources department sent a follow-up email confirming that the email was intentional.
“We are writing to confirm that we have engaged a third party, CPT Group, to assist with the distribution of Twitter Separation Agreements in the United States,” the email read, according to Insider.
It continued, “This email was an official company communication and is not a phishing attempt. If you did not receive your agreement by email, please check your spam folder.”
The CPT Group did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment. According to its website, he company is based in Irvine, California, and is a “leading provider of notice and settlement class action administration services.”
Twitter, which no longer has a media department, did not respond to a request for comment, as all emails were returned as undeliverable.
The email connected former employees to the Twitter Separation page on the CPT website which said, “As you know, we’ve had to reduce our global workforce to ensure the company’s success moving forward, and your employment has been impacted.
“Since we notified you of your status, you’ve remained in non-working notice, employed, and on payroll, and this will continue through your separation date. You are also eligible to receive additional severance if you sign a separation agreement and release.”
Thousands of Twitter employees were laid off in November, mere weeks after Elon Musk’s takeover of the social media platform, amounting to more than half of its workforce. Since the layoffs, former Twitter employees have been waiting for their severance packages, which Musk had said would provide three months’ paid severance in exchange for employees refraining from suing Twitter.