Federal Judges Rule Elon Musk Doesn’t Need to Delete 2018 Post Regarding Tesla Union
The court’s 9–8 majority agreed that the appropriate remedy for problematic speech is more speech, not its removal.
A social media post by Tesla CEO Elon Musk warning employees that they could lose stock options if they unionize constitutes protected speech and does not have to be deleted, a divided federal appellate court ruled on Oct. 25.
The message in question, made in 2018 before Musk’s acquisition and rebranding of Twitter as X, was posted amid a unionization push by the United Auto Workers (UAW) at Tesla’s Fremont, California, plant.
It read, “Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union … But why pay union dues & give up stock options for nothing?”
The comments prompted three pro-union Tesla workers and the UAW to file charges with the NLRB against Tesla, alleging violation of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which gives employees the power to form or join unions.
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In a complaint filed with the NLRB, the union alleged that both men tried to “threaten and intimidate” workers who may want to exercise their right to join a union. The Trump campaign has dismissed such allegations as “frivolous” and a “political stunt” aimed at undermining the Republican candidate’s strong support among U.S. workers.