Elon Musk is apologizing after publicly mocking a Twitter employee with a disability.
Musk had questioned the work performance of Haraldur Thorleifsson, an Iceland-based software engineer, saying he had "done almost no work for the past four months."
Musk also questioned Thorleifsson's value at the company, saying he was using his Muscular Dystrophy as an "excuse" to do "no actual work."
"The reality is that this guy (who is independently wealthy) did no actual work, claimed as his excuse that he had a disability that prevented him from typing, yet was simultaneously tweeting up a storm. Can't say I have a lot of respect for that," Musk tweeted.
Thorleifsson was uncertain if he had been laid off by the social media company and tweeted Musk on Monday, saying that he failed to get a response from Twitter's HR department for nine days.
"Dear @elonmusk. 9 days ago the access to my work computer was cut, along with about 200 other Twitter employees," he wrote. "However your head of HR is not able to confirm if I am an employee or not. You've not answered my emails. Maybe if enough people retweet you'll answer me here?"
Musk responded and asked what kind of work Thorleifsson had been doing, then criticized his responses, at one point saying "Pics or it didn't happen." He even shared a YouTube clip from the 1999 cult classic "Office Space," when a consulting team known as the Bobs interviews employees ahead of layoffs, seemingly taunting Thorleifsson: "Would you say that you're a people person?"
"To be clear. You have every right to lay me off. That's totally fair and fine. But usually people are told when that happens. Maybe with a letter or something," Thorleifsson said.
The software engineer also responded to Musk's public accusation that he was using his disability as an excuse, explaining in a thread that he has used a wheelchair for 20 years but despite his health issues, he always prioritized his job.
After facing backlash, Musk had a change of heart and called the situation a "misunderstanding," adding that he had a videocall with Thorleifsson "to figure out what's real vs what I was told."
"I would like to apologize for my misunderstanding of his situation," Musk said in a followup tweet. "It was based on things I was told that were untrue or, in some cases, true, but not meaningful. He is considering remaining at Twitter."
The billionaire added "Better to talk to people than communicate via tweet."
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