By Zachary Stieber
Twitter has been sued for allegedly not paying rent for an office in San Francisco.
The landlord of the office filed a complaint for breach of lease against Twitter, which is headquartered in California, in state court on Dec. 29, 2022.
Twitter was alerted in mid-December that it owed approximately $136,260 in rent and that, if it did not send payment within five business days, it would be in default of the lease, according to an exhibit attached to the suit.
Twitter failed to comply with the requirements, Columbia Property Trust, the landlord, said.
Twitter did not respond to a request for comment. The company was served with a summons before the New Year, according to the court docket.
The suit is over rent for 650 California Street, where Twitter has an office. Its headquarters is located elsewhere in the city.
Columbia Property Trust is seeking damages of at least $136,200 as well as interest on the damages, attorneys’ fees, and other costs. The company says on its website that its offices “are designed for companies much like our own—with a bold vision, a strong culture and a commitment to sustainability and employee wellbeing,” including Twitter.
A case management conference has been scheduled for May 31.
Twitter was purchased by billionaire Elon Musk in 2022. Musk has tried cutting expenses in a bid to make the company profitable.
Another Lawsuit
Twitter was also sued in late 2022 for allegedly failing to pay nearly $200,000 for flights.
Twitter entered a purchase agreement in 2020 with Private Jet Services Group and several employees used the private air charter services in 2022, according to the suit, filed in federal court in New Hampshire.
But invoices totaling $197,725 for the flights were never paid, the suit alleged.
Marty O’Neill, an executive at Twitter, messaged the jet company and said that Twitter was “not liable for these expenses … and therefore will not be paying these invoices,” according to the suit. O’Neill said only certain people were allowed to order services on behalf of Twitter, and the employees who flew were not among them.
According to internal emails cited in the suit, Taylor DeLorenzo, one of the employees, told O’Neill that then-CEO Parag Agrawal signed off on the flights but O’Neill said that “new management is not going to budge” on its position.
Private Jet Services Group is seeking damages, attorneys’ fees, and any other relief deemed necessary and proper.
Twitter has not yet responded to the case in court but has received a summons, according to the docket.
