Elon Musk apologizes after publicly mocking Twitter employee with disability

Elon Musk has apologized after publicly mocking a Twitter employee with a disability who was uncertain if he had been laid off by the social media company. Musk questioned the work performance of the former employee, Haraldur Thorleifsson, and said that he had “done almost no work for the past four months.”

Thorleifsson, who goes by "Halli," opened his work computer last Sunday and found that he had been logged out. Thorleifsson tweeted Musk on Monday saying that he failed to get a response from Twitter's HR department, and hoped to get clarity about whether he was still employed at the company.

Musk responded in a tweet, asking "what work have you been doing?" Thorleifsson replied with a list of his tasks, noting that he saved the company $500,000 on a software-as-a-service contract, among other things. Musk doubted his responses and replied: "pics or it didn't happen." Musk also questioned Thorleifsson's value at the company and said he was using his disability as an excuse. Thorleifsson clarified in a tweet that he has muscular dystrophy.

"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," Musk said in a tweet. "Can't say I have a lot of respect for that."

While the exchange was going on, Thorleifsson said he was informed that he was no longer employed at the company.