Schobinger
Schobinger v. Twitter, Inc.
Opinion
Trial Court Opinion
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
MARK SCHOBINGER, Case No. 23-cv-03007-VC
Plaintiff,
ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR
v. CLASS CERTIFICATION
TWITTER, INC., et al., Re: Dkt. No. 75 Defendants.
Mark Schobinger was the Senior Director of Compensation for Twitter during the 2022– 23 time period, when Twitter was being acquired by Elon Musk. Schobinger was a member of a pool of employees who were eligible for an annual bonus payable in early 2023. It’s undisputed that, under the terms of the bonus plan, the company was not required to pay the bonus; it was a matter of discretion for the company. But Schobinger alleges that in April, May, and August 2022, the company promised employees that they would, in fact, get the bonus as long as they stayed through the acquisition. Schobinger alleges that he stayed through the acquisition in reliance on this promise, but that he and his fellow employees never got the bonus. So he has filed this lawsuit. And now he has moved for class certification, seeking to represent the interests of all employees in the pool. But some interesting facts have been revealed in…