Tesla Inc. repeatedly violated U.S. labor law, including by firing a union activist, and must make CEO Elon Musk delete a threatening tweet from his personal account, the National Labor Relations Board ruled Thursday.
The ruling, issued by two Republican members of the agency and one Democrat, states that the electric-car maker must offer to reinstate the fired employee.
Tesla, which didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, has denied wrongdoing.
Musk’s 2018 tweet stated in part: “Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union. Could do so tmrw if they wanted. But why pay union dues and give up stock options for nothing?”
Here’s the tweet in full:
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.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 21, 2018