A social media post by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, warning employees they could lose stock options if they unionize, constitutes protected speech and does not have to be deleted, a divided federal appellate court ruled on Friday.
In a 9–8 ruling, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a 2021 order from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which had declared the Musk post an unlawful threat and directed him to delete it.
“We hold that Musk’s tweets are constitutionally protected speech and do not fall into the categories of unprotected communication like obscenity and perjury,” the unsigned majority opinion reads.
The message in question, made in 2018 before Musk’s acquisition and rebranding of Twitter as X, was posted amid an unionization push by the United Auto Workers (UAW) at Tesla’s Fremont, California, plant. It read, “Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union … But why pay union dues & give up stock options for nothing?”…