Twitter agreed to pay whistleblower Peiter Zatko about $7 million {dollars} in settlement a reimbursement in June. Zatko additionally signed a non-disclosure settlement, as a part of the settlement, in response to a report from The Wall Street Journal, which is predicated on an unspecified variety of nameless “people familiar with the matter.”

The settlement apparently preceded Zatko’s official grievance, which was despatched to lawmakers in July and leaked to The Washington Post about two weeks in the past.

Instead, the settlement and payout have been reportedly a part of Zatko’s departure from Twitter, and associated to a protracted negotiation over owed pay. As WSJ factors out, it’s fairly regular for departing tech executives to obtain settlement cash, particularly after they go away on less-than-ideal phrases.

In his grievance Zatko, who was previously head of safety for the corporate, alleged that the social media platform has been knowingly failing on a number of safety fronts. Among different issues, Zatko claimed Twitter doesn’t shield person knowledge, is mendacity to regulators about its privateness practices, and opts to not precisely account for or regulate bots on the positioning.

Since the paperwork’ launch, Zatko has been subpoenaed to testify by Congress, and in addition by Elon Musk’s authorized workforce. The Tesla CEO is embroiled in an ongoing battle over whether or not or not he’s allowed to again out of his $44 billion Twitter acquisition with out going through penalties. Twitter is suing him over it. Musk has been claiming Twitter’s bot downside is a violation of the unique deal phrases.

Just yesterday, the Delaware choose presiding over the Musk/Twitter debacle decided that the protection might, actually, incorporate Zatko’s grievance into their case.

Zatko is about to look in entrance of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. He has additionally been referred to as as a witness within the Delaware trial, which begins October 17 and is scheduled to run for 5 days.

Though the previous safety govt signed an NDA, whistleblower complaints and authorized testimony are two avenues seemingly exempted from the settlement’s phrases.

From the WSJ:

As a part of the settlement, Mr. Zatko agreed to a nondisclosure settlement that forbids him from talking publicly about his time at Twitter or disparaging the corporate, the individuals mentioned. Congressional hearings and governmental whistleblower complaints are two of the few venues by which he’s permitted to talk brazenly, they mentioned, and such exemptions are typical in compensation settlements.