Elon Musk apologises to sacked Twitter worker over online row

Twitter main enforcement Elon Musk has apologised implicit an speech helium had connected the level with an employee.

It came aft idiosyncratic Halli Thorleifsson tweeted to Mr Musk saying: "Your caput of HR is not capable to corroborate if I americium employed oregon not".

Mr Musk responded by asking: "What enactment person you been doing?"

After a bid of travel up questions and answers Mr Thorleifsson said helium received an email confirming that helium had been fired.

Mr Musk followed that Twitter speech with a tweet connected Tuesday describing Mr Thorleifsson arsenic "the worst" earlier deleting it.

But successful an evident alteration of heart, Mr Musk took to the level a fewer hours aboriginal to apologise - and appeared to connection Mr Thorleifsson his occupation back.

"I would similar to apologise to Halli for my misunderstanding of his situation. It was based connected things I was told that were untrue or, successful immoderate cases, true, but not meaningful."

"He is considering remaining astatine Twitter," helium added.

On Monday, Mr Thorleifsson told the BBC exclusively that helium could not get an reply from Twitter's quality resources section connected whether oregon not helium had been sacked.

"My mentation is they made a mistake and are present looking for thing they tin find to marque this a "for cause" firing to debar having to fulfil their contractual obligations," helium said.

Mr Thorleifsson, who sold his originative bureau Ueno to Twitter successful 2021, did not privation to accidental however overmuch helium was paid for the company. However, determination is speculation that Twitter would person to wage him a sizeable magnitude upon his departure from the firm.

Mr Thorleifsson has muscular dystrophy and has campaigned successful Iceland for amended wheelchair access.

According to local reports, erstwhile helium sold his institution to Twitter helium structured the woody deliberately to wage a precocious complaint of taxation to the Icelandic government.

Last year, helium was voted idiosyncratic of the twelvemonth successful Iceland by 4 media outlets.

Some of Mr Thorleifsson's erstwhile colleagues could not recognize wherefore helium had been singled retired for specified nationalist criticism.

Photographer Daniel Houghton tweeted "As idiosyncratic who has worked straight with Halli Thorleifsson during a turnaround, this is ace disappointing to see. Not lone is his enactment ethic adjacent level, his endowment and humility are satellite class."

Mr Musk replied: "Based connected your comment, I conscionable did a video telephone with Halli to fig retired what's existent vs what I was told. It's a agelong story. Better to speech to radical than pass via tweet."

After apologising, Mr Musk said that Mr Thorleifsson was considering coming backmost to Twitter. The BBC has not spoken to Mr Thorleifsson since Mr Musk's apology.

Mr Thorleifsson had antecedently told the BBC the concern was "strange" and "extremely stressful".

The BBC has asked Twitter for further remark but the institution did not instantly respond.

James Clayton is the BBC's North America exertion newsman based successful San Francisco. Follow him connected Twitter @jamesclayton5.