X Corp. Accused of Retaliation After Firing Employee for Opposing Back-to-Office Mandate

In continuation of X's very long list of screwups, the company has been accused of yet another case of unfair treatment against its employees. The US Labor Board accuses X (formerly Twitter) of retaliation after firing an employee for speaking her mind about contradicting the return-to-office policy.

NLRB Says What X Did was Illegal

Back in November 2022, X owner Elon Musk announced that employees are mandated to return to the office since the pandemic has already died down. This goes for workers who can do their jobs perfectly even within the walls of their homes.

The mandate received a lot of pushback, but the tech billionaire was set on implementing the new policy. He told the staff that if they can "physically make it to an office" and don't show up, then "resignation accepted."

Software Engineer Yao Yue quoted a post that mentioned Musk's statement, urging employees to let Musk fire them instead of resigning since they will "gain literally nothing out of a resignation." Yue also posted the same statement on Slack.

It was believed that her opposition was what got her fired, given that she lost her job five days after posting it, as reported by Engadget. the National Labor Relations Board alleges that it was in violation of federal labor law by "interfering with, restraining, and coercing employees."

After all, Yue was not technically breaking any rules. She may just be pointing out that by resigning, employees might miss out on a severance package from the company, who will likely fire them on a whim anyway. She was merely exercising protected rights.

Sadly, this is not the first time that Musk has been accused of treating employees unfairly, both by firing employees from his other companies illegally, as well as creating a stressful environment in X's office during the rebranding efforts.

Musk Fired an Employee for Organizing a Union

Just this March, Elon Musk-run company Tesla also got in trouble with the NLRB after firing an employee for attempting to organize a union. The Tesla CEO even stated that choosing to unionize will affect the workers' stock options.

The NLRB has been allowed to require the EV company to reinstate the employee, Richard Ortiz, as well as provide him with back pay. This was made possible after the three judges on the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the finding.

In addition to that, Musk was asked to delete the X post that threatened the employees' stock options should they go through with their plans to unionize. Upon reinstatement, Ortiz intends to work with fellow employees and "finish the job of forming a union," as per The New York Times.

It's not just Tesla and X that are experiencing these circumstances. SpaceX employees also filed complaints about labor law violations last year accusing the company of retaliating against them.

Eight workers were affected by the alleged violation of labor laws. The filed charges state that the company pushed back after the employees helped in writing a letter that pointed out the lack of enforcement in its policies on sexual harassment.