Delaware Chancery Court Judge Kathaleen McCormick, who is overseeing the lawsuit between Twitter Inc. and Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk on Thursday ruled that the billionaire can amend his countersuit to include the $7.8 million severance payment the social media company paid to whistleblower Peiter Zatko.
This is considered a small victory for Musk, as Twitter went ahead and made the payment on June 28, violating the terms of the contract it signed with Musk regarding his proposed takeover.
As part of the lawsuit to enforce Musk’s $44 billion deal, Twitter has asked him and his lawyers to provide any communication between them and Zatko from Dec. 1, 2021, to Aug. 22, 2022. The judge has made this a precondition for allowing Musk’s request for amending his counterclaim against Twitter.
The billionaire sent a third notice of termination to Twitter earlier this month, citing the impropriety in Twitter’s payment to Zatko.
Zatko, known as “Mudge” in cybersecurity circles, previously served as Twitter’s security chief and was terminated from service in January. In August, a whistleblower complaint filed by him with the SEC and other federal agencies was disclosed, wherein he alleged serious security problems at Twitter that pose a threat to user data. He testified before Congress last week.
