U.S. Court Rules Musk Threatened Tesla Workers With Tweet

A 2018 Twitter post by Tesla CEO Elon Musk threatened Tesla employees with the loss of stock options if they decided to be represented by a union, a federal appeals court ruled, Kevin McGill reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: Musk, like Peter Thiel and a host of businessmen who grew up in apartheid South Africa, is fiercely opposed to unionization.

The ruling by a three-judge panel of the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a March 2021 order by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which ordered that the tweet be deleted.

The case arose from United Auto Workers’ organizing efforts at a Tesla facility in Fremont, California. Musk, like Peter Thiel and a host of businessmen who grew up in apartheid South Africa, is fiercely opposed to unionization.

Also upheld was the board’s order that Tesla reinstate and provide back pay to an employee who was fired for union-organizing activity. Musk tweeted on May 20, 2018: “Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union. Could do so tmrw if they wanted. But why pay union dues and give up stock options for nothing? Our safety record is 2X better than when plant was UAW & everybody already gets healthcare.”

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