Elon Musk (“Musk”) recently has come under fire for his alleged mistreatment of female engineers and minorities at SpaceX for underpaying individuals for the same position (see article). Now, the embattled Musk, is under scrutiny for his treatment of employees at X, formerly known as Twitter.
The National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint, accusing Musk of violating federal law by punishing employees for communicating and organizing with others about poor working conditions under the aptly named National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). As reported tensions have grown between Musk and X workers, Musk ordered X employees back to work by stating, “if you can physically make it to an office and you don’t show up, resignation accepted.”
An employee of X at the time, Yao Yue, responded with a post on X stating “don’t resign, let him fire you.” Musk reportedly then fired Yue a few days later. Under the NLRA, this termination could be seen as a retaliation for attempting to communicate and organize against poor working conditions.
If you are having difficulty bringing employees back to the office, consider contacting counsel prior to taking any adverse action against employees. Failure to do so may subject your company to legal liability. For more information on employees returning to work, please contact us at info@mnklawyers.com.
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