Elon Musk And Tesla Receive Bad News

In 2021, the National Labor Relations Board found that Tesla and CEO Elon Musk had violated labor laws. …

At the center of the case were tweets made by Musk, threatening to remove stock options from employees who joined a labor union. …

One employee, Richard Ortiz, was fired from the company for organizing union activity and collective bargaining efforts on behalf of Tesla employees.

Ortiz was found to have been wrongfully fired from Tesla by the National Labor Relations Board and was ordered to be re-hired, with back pay.

Tesla appealed the decision to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld the original recommendations of the NLRB.

Here’s more on the story:

Elon Musk broke law with threat to Tesla workers’ stock options if they join union

Appeal judges uphold previous ruling, citing ‘implied threat’ in CEO’s tweet directed at Fremont employees who wanted to join union

Read opinion by Fifth Cir.https://t.co/72OVzeMuld

— lawsinusa (@lawsinusa) April 1, 2023

(The Hill):#Federal appeals court upholds finding that #Musk, Tesla violated labor laws : A federal appeals court on Friday upheld a previous finding that Tesla and CEO Elon Musk violated labor laws by firing an employee involved .. https://t.co/7HROtoCPvI

— NewsOnePlace.com (@newsoneplace) April 1, 2023

According to The Hill:

Ortiz was involved in unionizing efforts at Tesla’s manufacturing plant in Fremont, Calif. After three Tesla employees testified before the California state legislature in opposition to pro-union legislation at the behest of the company, Ortiz shared information about those employees in a private union Facebook group.

Tesla has just lost this appeal. I will link the case soonish. https://t.co/lD3Hzzesrc

— Raffi Melkonian (@RMFifthCircuit) March 31, 2023

The Guardian confirmed:

In Friday’s case, Tesla had argued that the tweet about unionising was not a threat and merely reflected the fact that union workers at other auto companies did not receive stock options.

But a three-judge panel disagreed.

“Substantial evidence supports the NLRB’s conclusion that the tweet is an implied threat to end stock options as retaliation for unionization,” the panel wrote.