Elon Musk ordered to delete tweet threatening pro-union workers

A federal appeals court ruled Friday that Elon Musk violated federal labor laws when he tweeted that employees who joined a union would not receive stock options.

The 5th Circuit Appeals Court said the National Labor Relations Board can enforce its order and make Mr. Musk delete the nearly five-year-old tweet. 

“Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union. Could do so tmrw if they wanted. But why pay union dues & give up stock options for nothing?” Mr. Musk tweeted. 

A federal administrative judge ruled against Tesla in 2019, finding that the tweet violated labor laws. The company appealed in the U.S. Court of Appeals which ruled against them last week. 

The court found that the tweet, which was made in response to a union drive at a Fremont, California, Tesla plant, constituted a threat to employees.

A panel of three judges ruled unanimously on Friday to dismiss the appeal submitted by Tesla.

“Because stock options are part of Tesla’s employees’ compensation, and nothing in the tweet suggested that Tesla would be forced to end stock options or that the UAW would be the cause of giving up stock options, substantial evidence supports the NLRB‘s conclusion that the tweet is as an implied threat to end stock options as retaliation for unionization,” the ruling reads.

The court also ruled that Tesla unlawfully terminated employee Richard Ortiz, and said that the NLRB can enforce its order for the company to rehire him with back pay. 

Tesla testified that it fired Mr. Ortiz in 2017 after discovering he had lied during an investigation into employee misconduct. 

Mr. Ortiz posted screenshots of two Tesla employee Workday profiles to a private pro-union Facebook group, criticizing the employees for testifying before the California Legislature against pro-union legislation. Mr. Ortiz obtained the screenshots from another employee but told investigators he could not remember where he got them from. 

The court found that Tesla had no rule against sharing screenshots of Workday profiles and subsequently created one in response to Mr. Ortiz’ union activity.

“Ortiz was fired for lying about protected union activity and not related to his job performance or Tesla’s legitimate business interests or workplace rules,” the ruling reads. “And that union animus motivated —at least in part — the complaint, investigation and decision to terminate Ortiz.”

Tesla has since been ordered to eliminate the rule. 

While the UAW and Mr. Ortiz were pleased with the decision, they lamented the time it took.

“While we celebrate the justice in today’s ruling, it also highlights our broken US labor law. Here is a company that clearly broke the law and yet it is several years down the road before these workers have achieved a modicum of justice,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement. 

Tesla’s Fremont plant has been fraught with accusations of union-busting activity for years. The NLRB found that employees were threatened with termination for participating in union activities, prohibited from speaking with the media about their jobs, subject to interrogation about union involvement and prohibited from distributing union leaflets without approval.