It is nice to see that a fundamental right recognized in the constitution is being protected. In New Orleans, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the National Labor Relations Board on Friday, ordering it to overturn an order to Elon Musk that forced him to delete a 2018 Twitter post Possible Tesla unionization.
A divided U.S. appeals court ruled Friday that the National Labor Relations Board went too far when it ordered Tesla CEO Elon Musk to delete a 2018 tweet that said the electric vehicle maker’s employees would lose stock options , if they were to unionize.
The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, by a 9-8 vote, threw out a 2021 NLRB decision that had concluded the tweet constituted an unlawful threat after the court concluded the tweet constituted free speech protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
“The expungement of private citizens’ speech on matters of public interest is not a remedy traditionally provided for in American law,” the court ruled in an unsigned opinion, joined by eight of the nine justices in the majority.
The order therefore constitutes a violation of Musk’s First Amendment rights. We are relieved to note that Elon Musk’s ownership of Tesla does not waive his First Amendment rights, at least not in the eyes of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
This seems self-evident, at least to this non-lawyer; The First Amendment provides no exceptions for business owners, and Musk appeared to note that most automakers do not include stock options in the compensation of rank-and-file employees. Actually, in the decisionit is pointed out:
Musk further stated that “the UAW does not have individual stock ownership as part of compensation at any other company” and therefore Tesla employees would lose stock options if they unionized because of the UAW’s policies. ROA.4539.
The court also commented on a Termination at Tesla.
That finding was enough to justify overturning the NLRB’s 2021 decision, according to the justices, all of whom were appointed by Republican presidents. This meant that no decision was made as to whether the tweet itself violated the National Labor Relations Act.
The court also ordered the NLRB to reconsider its decision ordering Tesla to rehire a fired pro-union employee. U.S. District Judge James Dennis called the ruling an “insignificant legal and factual statement” in a dissenting opinion joined by seven other justices, including all of the court’s Democratic nominees.
The full findings of the 5th district can be viewed Here.
That’s why we have courts. And a victory for free speech is always a good thing.
See related: Tesla stock takes a hit as demand for electric vehicles falls
Tesla’s “We, Robot” event pushed back the distant future by a decade
Tesla is still not unionized as of this writing. Tesla employees will probably continue to receive stock options.
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