Elon Musk derided a disabled former Twitter employee after the worker said on the social media site that he wasn't sure if he still had a job.
The spat began when Haraldur Thorleifsson, who has muscular dystrophy and relies on a wheelchair, sent a tweet to Musk on Monday asking for clarity about his job status.
Thorleifsson, who lives in Iceland, noted he had lost access to his work computer several days ago, but that Twitter's human resource department hadn't confirmed his employment status. That kicked off a string of tweets between Musk and Thorleifsson, with the billionaire asking Thorleifsson about his role with the company.
After that exchange, Thorleifsson said a Twitter human resources employee emailed him and confirmed that he had been laid off, "which is totally OK and it happens all the time."
"Companies let people go," Thorleifsson wrote. "That's within their rights. They usually tell people about it, but that's seemingly the optional part at Twitter now."
Musk responded to a screenshot of the exchange between himself and Thorleifsson by criticizing the former employee, alleging that the man "did no actual work" and used his disability "as his excuse."