Photographer: Nathan Laine/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Self-proclaimed “Free Speech Absolutist” Elon Musk is about as committed to free speech as King Henry was to Catherine of Aragon. Quickly after his $44B blunder of a purchase, it seems like Elon was either firing people for correcting him or spreading propaganda about how corrupting exposure to “woke ideas” can be.
Elon Musk on the “Woke Mind Virus”, free speech: The thing about censorship is that, for those who would advocate it, just remember at some point that will be turned on you…
Source: Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) pic.twitter.com/crntuNKMXD— Wittgenstein (@backtolife_2023) October 15, 2023
Elongated Musket should have taken his own advice: an employee fired for expressing their opinion will be taking X, formally known as Twitter — you have to say the whole thing, like a Tribe Called Quest — to court. From Reuters:
Elon Musk’s X illegally fired an employee in retaliation for her internet posts challenging its return-to-office policy, the U.S. labor board alleged on Friday.
In the complaint, a regional director of the U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) accused X — formerly known as Twitter — of violating the federal law that prohibits punishing employees for communicating and organizing with others about their working conditions.
[A]fter Musk ordered workers back to the office last November and reportedly said “if you can physically make it to an office and you don’t show up, resignation accepted”.
Employee Yao Yue responded with a post on Twitter telling fellow workers, “Don’t resign, let him fire you.” A few days later, she was terminated in violation of the National Labor Relations Act, according to the complaint.
This is the type of fact pattern Employment Law professors put on the final as a gimmie. And while the Supreme Court hasn’t been the kindest to the NLRB, this case seems pretty cut and dry. I’d say that I hope this, along with the myriad other employment lawsuits, hurt Elon’s pockets, but no blatant violation of the NLRA will hurt as much as the up to 90% of value Twitter has lost since he purchased it. Sucks to suck.
Musk’s X Illegally Fired Worker Challenging Office Return, US Labor Board Says [Reuters]
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.