Getty Images | Patrick Pouleur
Tesla CEO Elon Musk violated U.S. labor law by threatening to deprive unionized employees of stock options, a federal appeals court ruled Friday. The appeals court said the National Labor Relations Commission could enforce an order requiring Musk to delete the tweet.
of musk Tweet Still online as of May 2018, he said, “Nothing is stopping the Tesla team at our car factory from voting for the union. They can tmrw if they want. But why Pay union dues and give up stock options for free?” Musk tweeted during a union campaign at a Tesla car manufacturing plant in Fremont, Calif. Tesla’s factory is not yet organized.
A federal administrative law judge ruled against Tesla and Musk in 2019, finding, among other things, that Musk violated labor laws with his tweets. The NLRB has confirmed that and most other parts of the 2021 judge’s ruling. Tesla filed an appeal in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld his NLRB in Friday’s ruling.
Tesla first claims that Musk’s May 20, 2018 tweet “was not threatening on the surface.”[n]Unlike the threat of a factory closing, when employees form a union and the parties get involved, the compensation is not within the unilateral control of the employer, so they are encouraged to “do nothing and give up stock options.” It is tension that characterizes as a threat. collective bargaining.
However, stock options are part of Tesla’s employee compensation, and nothing in the tweet suggests that Tesla will be forced to end stock options or cause the UAW to abandon stock options. So the substantive evidence is that the tweet is [sic] Implicit threat to terminate stock options in retaliation for unionization. Additionally, the tweet statements are substantially similar to other statements that the NLRB and the Court have determined are threatening.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision was handed down unanimously by a three-judge panel, dismissing appeals filed by both Tesla and the United Auto Workers (UAW).Tesla or the union still to the bank The unanimous ruling suggests it will be an uphill battle, but we will review it with all the judges in the court.
Verdict: Tesla illegally fires union members
As per the ruling, Tesla “founded the NLRB’s findings that Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted unlawful threats on Twitter” and “the NLRB’s conclusion that employee Richard Ortiz was unlawfully terminated.” objected to. The appeals court dismissed both Tesla’s claims, directed Musk to delete the tweets, and granted his NLRB cross-application for enforcement of the order that directed Tesla to reinstate Ortiz on a deferred basis.
The court also said the NLRB could enforce other parts of the order that were not contested in court. The NLRB said Tesla was interfering with employee leaflet distribution, prohibiting employees from distributing union materials without approval, threatening to fire employees, and discouraging employees from communicating with the media about their employment. , questioning certain employees about their union activities, and reprimanding employee Jose. Moran for his union work.
In Ortiz’s firing, Tesla claimed it fired him for lying during an employee misconduct investigation. Ortiz posted two screenshots of a Tesla employee profile from his Workday application on a private “UAW Representing Tesla Employee” Facebook page to testify before the California legislature against a union-backed law. I criticized my employees. In a post on his Facebook page, one employee accused him of “kissing his ass and yelling at people.”
Ortiz later admitted to lying when he told Tesla investigators he didn’t remember where he got the screenshots he received from Moran. The Court of Appeal found that there was sufficient evidence to support the NLRB’s findings. Complaints, investigations, and the decision to fire Ortiz. ”
“Tesla had no policy prohibiting such use of Workday or restricting access to the program,” the court said when the screenshot was taken by Moran and shared by Ortiz. In one of the undisputed parts of the NLRB order, the Department of Labor ruled that Tesla had “promulgated rules restricting Workday’s use in response to Ortiz and Moran’s union activity” to the law. Tesla has been ordered to rescind the rule.
