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Amicus Briefs

Tesla, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

CASE SUMMARY

NCLA filed an amicus brief in support of Tesla, Inc.’s lawsuit challenging NLRB’s March 2021 ruling that the company violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and would be required to “direct [CEO Elon] Musk to delete [his] unlawful tweet.”

In the summer of 2018, the United Auto Workers union and a handful of Tesla’s employees filed a charge with NLRB alleging that Tesla committed an unfair labor practice when Mr. Musk tweeted a statement on his personal Twitter account. An NLRB administrative law judge concluded that Tesla violated labor laws “by … [t]hreatening employees on May 20, 2018, with loss of stock options if they vote in favor of the Union.”

The Board, in March 2021, decided against Tesla based entirely on its flawed decision from a few months prior in FDRLST Media, LLC v. NLRB. NCLA represented FDRLST Media, LLC in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in an appeal from the Board’s November 2020 decision against FDRLST. There were multiple constitutional defects in the Board’s FDRLST decision, which it only exacerbated when it relied exclusively on that decision to rule against Tesla. In doing so, NLRB ignored Supreme Court and Fifth Circuit Court decisions otherwise interpreting and applying unfair labor practice statutes and the First Amendment.

In October 2024, the en banc Fifth Circuit vacated NLRB’s order against Telsa, a victory for NCLA.

OUR TEAM

Kara Rollins
Litigation Counsel
Sheng Li
Litigation Counsel
Margot Cleveland
Of Counsel

RELEVANT MATERIALS

NCLA FILINGS

Opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

October 25, 2024 | Read More

Brief of the New Civil Liberties Alliance as Amicus Curiae in Support of Petitioner/Cross-Respondent Tesla, Incorporated

September 6, 2023 | Read More

Brief of Amicus Curiae New Civil Liberties Alliance In Support of Petitioner Cross-Respondent Tesla, Incorporated

August 6, 2021 | Read More

PRESS RELEASES

In NCLA Amicus Win, Fifth Circuit Vacates Order for Elon Musk to Delete X Post About Labor

October 28, 2024 | Read More

NCLA Files Amicus Brief in NLRB Lawsuit Alleging Tesla CEO Tweet Was Unfair Labor Practice

August 11, 2021 | Read More

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