Australian firm sues Twitter for not paying bills

An Australian project management firm has filed a lawsuit against Twitter in a US court seeking cumulative payments of about A$1-million (R12.5m) over alleged non-payment of bills for work done in four countries, court filings show.

Sydney-based private company Facilitate Corp on June 29 filed the suit in the US district court for the northern district of California claiming breach of contract over Twitter's failure to pay its invoices.

The Australian firm's lawsuit is the latest alleging non-payment of bills and rent against Twitter since Elon Musk bought the social media platform for $44-billion (R829.69bn) last year.

Facilitate said from 2022 through early 2023, it installed sensors in Twitter's offices in London and Dublin, completed an office fit-out in Singapore, and cleared an office in Sydney.

For those works, Twitter owed the company about £203,000 (R4.8m), S$546,600 (R7.6m) and A$61,300 (R767,250), respectively, Facilitate said.

Twitter, also known as X Corp, no longer has a media relations office. Reuters could not immediately reach Twitter's Australia office.

Facilitate said it was seeking compensatory damages in an amount to be determined at trial, legal costs and interest at the maximum legal rate.

In May, a former public relations firm filed a suit in a New York court saying Twitter had not paid its bills, while early this year US-based advisory firm Innisfree M&A sued it, seeking about $1.9-million (R35.8m) for what it said were unpaid bills after it advised Twitter on its acquisition by Musk.

Britain's Crown Estate, an independent commercial business that manages the property portfolio belonging to the monarchy, in January began court proceedings over alleged unpaid rent on Twitter's London headquarters.

Reuters