Employees Suing Twitter In Response to Elon Musk's Plans for Mass Layoffs

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Multiple Twitter employees have filed a class-action lawsuit against the company and its new owner, Elon Musk, stating that the layoffs they're facing under his rule are in violation of labor laws.

The lawsuit was filed on Thursday in San Francisco federal court, PEOPLE confirms.

In it, employees are asking the court to issue an order that would require Twitter to follow the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN), which helps ensure advance notice of at least 60 days for mass layoffs in large companies.

Employees are also asking the court to restrict Twitter from urging employees to sign documents that could give up their right to pursue legal action against the company.

Musk's lawyers and representatives for Twitter did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's requests for comment.

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RELATED: Twitter to Lay Off Several Employees Over Email amid Elon Musk Takeover: Reports

Musk, 51, is set to begin laying off Twitter employees on Friday, The New York Times reported, citing a company-wide email that the outlet had obtained.

Twitter employees were told in an email Thursday that the layoffs were set to begin, and were also informed not to go to the offices on Friday, according to the Times. The email, the outlet said, came from a generic address and was signed by "Twitter."

"In an effort to place Twitter on a healthy path, we will go through the difficult process of reducing our global work force," the email said, per the Times. "We recognize that this will impact a number of individuals who have made valuable contributions to Twitter, but this action is unfortunately necessary to ensure the company's success moving forward."

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According to CNN, employees will receive a notice by 12 p.m. ET Friday that will alert them of their employment status.

"If your employment is not impacted, you will receive a notification via your Twitter email," the email said, per CNN. "If your employment is impacted, you will receive a notification with next steps via your personal email."

The email added that Twitter's offices "will be temporarily closed and all badge access will be suspended," in an effort "to help ensure the safety" of employees and Twitter overall, the outlet added.

RELATED VIDEO: Elon Musk Buys Twitter for $44B Following Legal Battle with Company, Fires Top Execs: Reports

After Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion last month, insiders told CNN that he fired CEO Parag Agrawal and two other executives.

Sources told The Washington Post that along with Agrawal, Twitter's head of legal policy, trust, and safety Vijaya Gadde, and CFO Ned Segal were all taken out of the building via shuttle after they were terminated. Twitter's general counsel Sean Edgett was also fired.

Musk previously told potential investors that as owner he planned to get rid of nearly 75 percent of the company's 7,500 workers, according to internal documents and interviews obtained by the Post.

Various Twitter employees began posting on the social media network about being locked out of their company email accounts ahead of the planned layoff notification on Friday, CNN reported.

Online, many of those workers shared blue heart and salute emojis, as well as the "#LoveWhereYouWorked" hashtag.