Tesla Appeals U.S. National Labor Relations Board Ruling

On March 25, the U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that Tesla had violated U.S. labor law and ordered the electric vehicle (EV) pioneer’s CEO to delete a tweet pointing towards the violation from his Twitter account.

According to Yahoo! Finance, Tesla Inc. filed an appeal against the ruling and the agency’s order with the U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Friday.

Along with its ruling, the NLRB ordered Tesla CEO Elon Musk to delete the tweet in question and required that the EV maker post notices addressing the unlawful tweet at all Tesla facilities across the U.S., making sure to include language explicitly stating that “WE WILL take appropriate steps to ensure Musk complies with our directive.”

The tweet in question, from back in 2018, states the following:

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? Our safety record is 2X better than when plant was UAW & everybody already gets healthcare.

The weight that tweets from the eccentric CEO carry and the impact they can have is very well-documented, and this is hardly the first time a tweet has landed Elon Musk and his company in hot water.

In the filed petition, Tesla implores the court to review the ruling, asking for “any further relief which the Court deems just and equitable”.

As part of its ruling, the NLRB also requires that Tesla reinstate one ex-employee and neutralize 2017 rules prohibiting the distribution of union literature in its parking lots outside of work hours and the distribution of union pamphlets and stickers without company permission.