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A California federal magistrate judge has rejected the bid of Mark Schobinger, a former senior director of compensation at X Corp. (formerly known as Twitter), to compel the company to produce additional communications and financial records in his lawsuit alleging the unlawful withholding of 2022 bonuses after Elon Musk acquired the company.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna M. Ryu ruled Thursday that Schobinger's request for emails, Slack messages, and other communications between Twitter management regarding the bonuses, as well as financial records concerning the accrual of funds for the bonuses, was "not proportional to the needs of the case."

Schobinger claims that X Corp. failed to pay promised 2022 bonuses to employees who remained with the company after Musk's acquisition in October 2022. In his December filing, Schobinger requested the production of communications among management discussing the bonuses and financial records related to the accrual of funds for their payment.

Judge Ryu found Schobinger's individual claims to be "weak" and criticized the scope of his requests for communications, calling them "broad" and targeting an "amorphous and potentially large" group of Twitter management personnel. The judge noted that Schobinger failed to narrow his requests during the required meet-and-confer process, making the demand seem like a "last-ditch fishing expedition" whose burden outweighed its potential benefit.

Regarding the request for financial records, Judge Ryu echoed similar concerns, pointing out that Schobinger's broad request lacked compromise with the company. However, she did allow Schobinger to proceed with a deposition of Mason Eaves, Twitter’s director of technical accounting, indicating that Eaves may have valuable knowledge about the accrual of funds for the bonuses and the decision not to pay them.

Schobinger’s attorneys, Shannon Liss-Riordan and Bradley Manewith of Lichten & Liss-Riordan PC, did not respond immediately to requests for comment. X Corp. is represented by attorneys from Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, including Eric Meckley, Brian D. Berry, Ashlee N. Cherry, Jonathan D. Lotsoff, and Kassia Stephenson.

The case, Schobinger v. Twitter Inc. et al., is being heard in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, case number 3:23-cv-03007.