Judge Rules That Tesla Violated Labor Law With Elon Musk’s Anti-Union Tweets

Elon Musk’s recent anti-union tweets have landed Tesla in hot water.

“Tesla violated labor laws by threatening employees when they attempted to unionize, a California labor judge ruled late Friday.

The company must now hold a meeting to advise workers of their rights, and CEO Elon Musk is required to attend.

Administrative Law Judge Amita Baman Tracy ruled Friday that Tesla had violated the National Labor Relations Act multiple times in 2017 and 2018.

The violations included a Musk tweet in May 2018 saying, ‘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?’

The judge said the tweet amounted to “threatening employees” they would lose their stock options if they voted to unionize.

‘Musk’s tweet can only be read by a reasonable employee to indicate that if the employees vote to unionize that they would give up stock options,’ Tracy wrote. ‘Musk threatened to take away a benefit enjoyed by the employees consequently for voting to unionize.’

The ruling also found Tesla violated labor laws by prohibiting employees from distributing leaflets in their off-hours in the employee parking lot in Fremont, California; telling employees it was futile to vote for the union; and interrogating employees about their union activities.

Tracy ruled that Tesla needs to “cease and desist” that behavior and fully reinstate and compensate one employee who had been unlawfully fired for being involved with union activities. The carmaker also needs to inform workers at a meeting that Tesla violated the National Labor Relations Act several times.”

For the rest of the story, visit CNN here.