San Francisco officials are investigating a complaint alleging that Twitter illegally converted part of its headquarters into bedrooms.
The complaint was dropped off at the city’s 311 service by a user on the social media network itself, after Forbes reported that some conference rooms had been converted into “modest rooms with unmade mattresses, drab curtains and giant telepresence monitors in conference rooms” .
Anonymous Twitter employees told Forbes that approximately four to eight bedrooms per floor were installed in the building at 1355 Market St. The Chronicle was unable to independently verify the claims. City records show that there were no applications to convert any part of the building to residential use.
Twitter owner Elon Musk appeared to confirm the company had installed beds and criticized the mayor of London Breed for scrutinizing the company rather than focusing on the city’s drugs crisis.
“So the city of SF is attacking companies that provide beds for tired employees instead of making sure kids are safe from fentanyl. Where are your priorities @LondonBreed! ? » Musk posted on Twitter, link to a Chronicle story about reported fentanyl overdose in 10-month-old baby.
The city’s building inspection department is looking to perform a site inspection for possible violations and has contacted the building manager for more information.
“We investigate all complaints. We need to make sure the building is used as intended. There are different building code requirements for residential buildings, including those used for short-term stays. These codes ensure that people use the spaces safely,” said Patrick Hannan, spokesman for the Department of Building Inspection.
If building code violations are found, the agency will issue a public notice of violation.
In the wake of Musk’s purchase of Twitter, some workers went public saying they slept in the office with high work demands.
Last month, Esther Crawford, director of product management at Twitter, was photographed in a sleeping bag and wearing an eye mask in what appeared to be a conference room.
“When your team is working around the clock to meet deadlines, sometimes you #SleepWhereYouWork,” she wrote in a tweet, playing to the hashtag #LoveWhereYouWork.
Musk himself posted in a now-deleted tweet that he would be working and sleeping at headquarters “until the organization is fixed.”
Twitter, which laid off its communications team, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Shorenstein, owner of 1355 Market St. with JPMorgan Chase, declined to comment.
Twitter’s 2011 lease agreement with a Shorenstein entity, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, states that the landlord “may reasonably withhold consent” to Twitter seeking to sublet its space to a “facility for the provision of social, welfare or clinical services, health services or dormitories (whether temporary, day or night).” The lease does not appear to indicate whether Twitter could operate the sleeping quarters itself.
The building at 1355 Market St. sits in a downtown general commercial zoning district, which allows for high-density office, hotel, entertainment, and residential uses.
In April, Musk tweeted a now-deleted poll titled “Convert Twitter SF headquarters into a homeless shelter since no one shows up anyway,” in what appeared to be a critique of the company’s remote work policy. business, which he then abandoned. Dan Sider, chief of staff for the city’s planning department, told Bloomberg CityLab at the time that “from a regulatory standpoint, converting this building into a homeless shelter would be pretty straightforward.” .
Supervisor Aaron Peskin called an oversight board hearing on Tuesday for more information on the reported bedroom conversions. Peskin said he also wanted to determine “whether or not people who hold an H-1B visa are exploited in the practice of labor.” H-1B visa holders must keep their skilled jobs or, if laid off, find new ones within 60 days to keep their Special Skilled Worker Permit and stay in the United States
Peskin said he looks forward to learning more about city officials “as we explore the apparent excesses of the current administration on Twitter.”
In addition, the California Labor Federation said tuesday that Twitter terminated a contract with union janitors a day after staging a strike and picket line outside the headquarters. Fired Twitter employees are also seeking arbitration over allegations that the company failed to deliver promised severance packages and provide legally required termination notices.
JD Morris, Chronicle editor, contributed to this report.
Roland Li is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: roland.li@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rolandlisf
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