The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled Tesla CEO Elon Musk in violation of federal labor law after he tweeted that employees would lose stock options if they joined a union.
The verdict upheld the finding of the US National Labor Relations Board, which found Musk’s tweet to be an unlawful threat to unionization and ordered him to delete it.
The tweet was sent in 2018 amid an organizing push by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union at Tesla’s Fremont, California, plant.
“Nothing is stopping the Tesla crew at our vehicle plant from voting union,” Musk tweeted. “But, why pay union dues and forego stock options for nothing?”
Tesla contended that the tweet about unionizing was not a threat, but rather a reflection of the reality that union members at other automakers were not given stock options.
A three-judge panel, however, disagreed. “Significant evidence supports the NLRB’s judgment that the tweet constitutes an implicit threat to terminate stock options in retribution for unionization,” the panel said in its ruling.
