A US appeals court has ruled that Elon Musk violated federal labour law by tweeting that Tesla employees would lose stock options if they joined a union. The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans upheld a decision by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which said the 2018 tweet amounted to an unlawful threat that could discourage unionising.
During an organising campaign at Tesla’s Fremont, California, plant by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, Musk tweeted: “Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union … But why pay union dues & give up stock options for nothing?” The court found this was an implied threat to end stock options as retaliation for unionisation.
UAW president Shawn Fain applauded the decision but said it highlights “our broken US labour law”. He added: “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.”
Tesla had argued the tweet was not a threat and merely reflected that union workers at other auto companies did not receive stock options. The appeals panel wrote: “Substantial evidence supports the NLRB’s conclusion that the tweet is an implied threat to end stock options as retaliation for unionization.”
In a separate case in 2022, the NLRB said Tesla violated labour law by prohibiting workers at the Fremont plant from wearing shirts supporting the union campaign. Tesla is appealing against that decision.
