Former Twitter Executives Sue Platform for Unpaid Fees

Messrs. Agrawal and Segal and Ms. Gadde say in the complaint that the company’s obligation to cover their legal expenses remains in effect for any proceedings tied to their corporate roles, which they say have included a shareholder lawsuit and inquiries from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department.

Lawyers for the former executives tried in January and again in March to request payment for expenses incurred investigating factual allegations, researching legal theories, developing a defense and other legal matters, the lawsuit shows.

The suit represents another example of Twitter being accused of overdue payments since Mr. Musk took control of the company and moved quickly to slash costs. Landlords, consultants and vendors were among those who sued for payments, though several of those lawsuits have since been dismissed, according to court documents.

“Once again, Twitter has failed to honor its contractual obligations to pay its bills,” said Aaron Zamost, a spokesman for Ms. Gadde and Mr. Segal, who declined to provide additional comment. Mr. Agrawal couldn’t be reached for comment. Twitter responded to an emailed request for comment with an auto-reply of a poop emoji.

Twitter’s corporate bylaws and contracts with the former executives obligate Twitter to cover their legal fees for proceedings related to their onetime roles at the company, according to the lawsuit, which was previously reported by the

New York Times.

Twitter is incorporated in Delaware, with its business headquarters in San Francisco.

The executives said they incurred legal expenses related to several proceedings, including being named as defendants in the shareholder lawsuit and a subpoena sent to Ms. Gadde from the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability to testify at a congressional hearing in February, which she appeared at.

Additionally, counsel for Messrs. Agrawal and Segal were contacted by representatives of the Justice Department last year regarding certain investigations related to Twitter, according to the lawsuit. The complaint doesn’t provide details about the inquiry. Mr. Agrawal also was asked by the SEC to preserve certain documents pertaining to his work at Twitter, according to the complaint.

Mr. Musk fired several top Twitter executives shortly after he closed the deal, including Mr. Agrawal, Ms. Gadde, Mr. Segal and former general counsel

Sean Edgett,

The Wall Street Journal previously reported. Mr. Edgett wasn’t named in the lawsuit filed Monday.

Mr. Musk said at the time that he fired those executives for cause and wasn’t required to pay them multimillion-dollar severance packages that had been expected, the Journal reported.

Write to Alexa Corse at [email protected]