There have been numerous controversies over the years surrounding the working conditions at Tesla's Fremont factory, where the Model 3, S, X, and Y are all assembled. A few years ago, there were reports of exhausted factory workers fainting on the floor to meet high production demands.
Tesla has also been accused of under-reporting worker injuries, and now the automaker is being blamed for violating labor laws after firing a union activist. According to Auto News, a ruling by the National Labor Relations Board is ordering Tesla to reinstate the fired worker and for Elon Musk to delete a derogatory Tweet aimed at union supporters.
"Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union," Musk, who is no stranger to controversial Tweets, wrote on Twitter back in 2018. "Could do so tmrw if they wanted. But why pay union dues & give up stock options for nothing?"
The National Labor Relations Board ruled that Tesla broke the law by "coercively interrogating" staff who supported the union and restricting employees from talking to the media. The board also said Elon Musk's message on Twitter "unlawfully threatened" Tesla's employees as they "would lose their stock options if they chose the Union" to represent them.
Tesla has denied any wrongdoing, arguing that Musk's controversial Tweet is protected by the First Amendment guarantee of free speech.
"While we celebrate the justice in today's ruling, it nevertheless highlights the substantial flaws in US labor law," UAW Vice President Cindy Estrada said in a statement. "Here is a company that clearly broke the law and yet it is three years down the road before these workers achieved a modicum of justice."
This isn't the first time misguided Tweets sent by Elon Musk have landed the company in trouble. In 2018, Musk Tweeted he had "funding secured" to take Tesla private, resulting in a lawsuit from the Securities and Exchange Commission. A $40 million settlement was reached that requires a lawyer to approve Musk's Tweets about sensitive topics before they are published.