This isn't the first time it has been reported that Tesla fired individuals for their opinions and/or dissent, and similar stories have come out of SpaceX and now Twitter. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has clearly been upsetting some folks since his Twitter takeover, and some are speaking out. However, it appears Tesla won't allow employees to "attack" Musk with their words, since two were reportedly fired.
The information comes from Bloomberg via Electrek, and it's based on complaints filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Keep in mind that everything at this point is alleged, and it will take some time before we have all the details to get to the bottom of the story. However, it appears the former Tesla employees are pushing back on their recent firing from the electric automaker.
According to a report by Bloomberg, the two Tesla workers were involved in discussions with many others about CEO Elon Musk. Based on the employees' complaints and other details from their lawyers, they were allegedly writing letters that criticized the Tesla CEO prior to being fired. The article notes that one of the letters was critical of Tesla's recent "return-to-work" policy, which was issued by Musk.
Back in June 2022, Musk was tweeting about Tesla's employees needing to return to work. He asked them not only to come back to the office, but also to put in 40 or more hours per week. If they didn't want to return to work and put in the hours, they would be asked to leave Tesla. However, Tesla wasn't fully prepared for all of its workers to return, and the ultimatum didn't hold as much weight as it seemed based on Musk's tweets.
Another recent letter from Tesla employees reportedly pushes back against the CEO's recent tweets. The alleged wording, according to Electrek's report, went so far as to call Musk's tweets potential harassment and in violation of the company's anti-harassment policy. It also claimed Musk's words were an "attack" on Tesla.
As noted by Electrek, a similar situation unfolded earlier in 2022 at SpaceX. Multiple workers who were upset with Musk decided to draft a letter to their leaders to inform them of their concerns. The letter called the SpaceX CEO “a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment.” Not long after, people involved in drafting the letter were fired from SpaceX.
