Tesla, Musk lose decision on factory union issues
Court upholds finding Tesla wrongfully fired worker involved in union organizing, Elon Musk's Twitter post was unlawfully anti-union .
A federal appeals court on Friday upheld a finding that Tesla unlawfully terminated an employee involved in labor organizing and that the company's chief executive , Elon Musk, had illegally threatened workers' stock options if they chose to unionize.
The opinion of three judges of the U.S. Fifth Circuit appeal allows National Labor Relations Board to enforce 2021 order requiring Tesla to reinstate, with back pay, employee Richard Ortiz and Mr. Musk to remove message on Twitter suggesting workers could lose stock options if they unionize.
"Looking forward to getting back to work at Tesla and working with my colleagues to complete the labor forming a union,” Mr. Ortiz said in a statement.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment on the ruling.
The finding comes as other companies run by Mr. Musk have raised concerns with workers over labor rights violations. Eight former employees of SpaceX, the rocket maker run by Mr Musk, sued for unfair labor practices last year, claiming the company retaliated against them for helping draft a letter asking for a better enforcement of its stated sexual harassment policies. Business is ongoing.
In February, Tesla laid off at least 18 employees following an organizing drive at a Buffalo factory. The union seeking to represent the workers called the firings a retaliation and filed a complaint with the labor board. Tesla said in a statement that the layoffs were the result of a semi-annual performance review and that the layoff decisions were made before the labor campaign was made public.
The case at issue on Friday dates back to 2017. At the time, Mr. Ortiz was known to be involved in an effort to organize the factory in Fremont, California, which included the distribution of union materials and the pressure for pro-union legislation, when he posted screenshots of his colleagues who were anti-union on a private Facebook page.
When an investigator from the company asked Mr. Ortiz where the screenshots were from, Mr. Ortiz replied that he can't remember, although a colleague sent him the photos after retrieving them from a internal human resources site. Mr. Ortiz later admitted that his response was a lie, and the company claimed that it fired him for this misrepresentation.
The Board of labor concluded that Mr. Ortiz was terminated because he was engaged in union activities, not because he lied. The circuit court agreed that "substantial evidence" pointed to the conclusion that "union animosity motivated the complaint, investigation and decision to fire Ortiz".
Mr. Musk's May 2018 post on stock options said there was nothing stopping Tesla factory workers from voting for a union, adding, "But why pay union dues and give up stock options for nothing? "
Tesla argued that the statement was a simple prediction based on Mr. Musk's understanding that other members of the United Automobile Workers union had not received of stock options and that his benevolent intent had become clear in subsequent posts in the same thread. .
But the labor board concluded that the post would have been interpreted by employees as a threat to eliminate their stock options if they chose to unionize and ordered Mr. Musk to remove it. The circuit court agreed and said the board could enforce its order.
Court upholds finding Tesla wrongfully fired worker involved in union organizing, Elon Musk's Twitter post was unlawfully anti-union .
A federal appeals court on Friday upheld a finding that Tesla unlawfully terminated an employee involved in labor organizing and that the company's chief executive , Elon Musk, had illegally threatened workers' stock options if they chose to unionize.
The opinion of three judges of the U.S. Fifth Circuit appeal allows National Labor Relations Board to enforce 2021 order requiring Tesla to reinstate, with back pay, employee Richard Ortiz and Mr. Musk to remove message on Twitter suggesting workers could lose stock options if they unionize.
"Looking forward to getting back to work at Tesla and working with my colleagues to complete the labor forming a union,” Mr. Ortiz said in a statement.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment on the ruling.
The finding comes as other companies run by Mr. Musk have raised concerns with workers over labor rights violations. Eight former employees of SpaceX, the rocket maker run by Mr Musk, sued for unfair labor practices last year, claiming the company retaliated against them for helping draft a letter asking for a better enforcement of its stated sexual harassment policies. Business is ongoing.
In February, Tesla laid off at least 18 employees following an organizing drive at a Buffalo factory. The union seeking to represent the workers called the firings a retaliation and filed a complaint with the labor board. Tesla said in a statement that the layoffs were the result of a semi-annual performance review and that the layoff decisions were made before the labor campaign was made public.
The case at issue on Friday dates back to 2017. At the time, Mr. Ortiz was known to be involved in an effort to organize the factory in Fremont, California, which included the distribution of union materials and the pressure for pro-union legislation, when he posted screenshots of his colleagues who were anti-union on a private Facebook page.
When an investigator from the company asked Mr. Ortiz where the screenshots were from, Mr. Ortiz replied that he can't remember, although a colleague sent him the photos after retrieving them from a internal human resources site. Mr. Ortiz later admitted that his response was a lie, and the company claimed that it fired him for this misrepresentation.
The Board of labor concluded that Mr. Ortiz was terminated because he was engaged in union activities, not because he lied. The circuit court agreed that "substantial evidence" pointed to the conclusion that "union animosity motivated the complaint, investigation and decision to fire Ortiz".
Mr. Musk's May 2018 post on stock options said there was nothing stopping Tesla factory workers from voting for a union, adding, "But why pay union dues and give up stock options for nothing? "
Tesla argued that the statement was a simple prediction based on Mr. Musk's understanding that other members of the United Automobile Workers union had not received of stock options and that his benevolent intent had become clear in subsequent posts in the same thread. .
But the labor board concluded that the post would have been interpreted by employees as a threat to eliminate their stock options if they chose to unionize and ordered Mr. Musk to remove it. The circuit court agreed and said the board could enforce its order.
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