Court Deems Tesla CEO's Tweet Protected Under Freedom of Expression
On Friday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a previous ruling by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) requiring Tesla CEO Elon Musk to delete a tweet he made in 2018. The tweet in question implied that Tesla employees would lose their stock options if they chose to unionize. The New Orleans-based court, in a narrow 9-8 vote, determined that the NLRB's ruling violated Musk's First Amendment rights.
The unsigned majority opinion stated that the removal of a private citizen's speech on matters of public concern is traditionally not supported in American law. This opinion was shared by judges appointed by Republican presidents and was sufficient to overturn the NLRB's 2021 ruling. However, the court did not address whether the tweet itself violated the National Labor Relations Act.
Additionally, the appeals court instructed the NLRB to reconsider its directive for Tesla to rehire a union-supporting employee who had been terminated. U.S. Circuit Judge James Dennis, who wrote the dissenting opinion supported by judges appointed by Democratic presidents, criticized the majority decision for being lacking in both legal and factual substance.
The case concerning Musk's tweet arose during the United Auto Workers' attempts to organize employees at Tesla's factory in Fremont, California. Musk’s tweet read: "Nothing is stopping our Tesla team from voting for a union at our car factory... But why pay union dues and give up stock options for nothing?" Defending the tweet, Tesla argued that it was not a threat, but rather a reflection of the fact that unionized workers in other companies do not receive stock options. The panel of three judges from the 5th Circuit did not agree with this defense in March 2023, but the full court decided to rehear the case.
This legal development follows Musk's acquisition of the social media platform Twitter (now known as X) for $44 billion in 2022. Musk, who is also the CEO of SpaceX, uses the platform extensively. In a separate legal matter, SpaceX is suing, claiming that the NLRB's internal enforcement processes are unconstitutional.
Tesla and NLRB representatives have not yet commented on the court's decision.