Tesla tumult

On Oct. 13, the Bay Area News Group reported that Tesla had fired hundreds of its Fremont, California plant workers, and the company said it was a result of annual performance reviews.

On Oct. 17, the United Auto Workers filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, accusing the corporation of firing labor union supporters.

Also on Oct. 17, former employee Abraham Duarte filed suit, accusing Tesla of violating the California WARN Act (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act) by failing to provide adequate notice to 50 or more employees.

“Tesla, Inc. has interfered with, restrained, and coerced employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed in Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act by, among other things, terminating and/or disciplining employees for violating a confidentiality agreement that restricts protected concerted activities,” reads the UAW complaint filed with the NLRB Oakland office.

Tesla’s Solar City subsidiary has also been terminating employees in California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah. The company has not provided numbers, but CNBC quoted former workers as estimating about 1,200 people have been cut loose in the waves of firings and layoffs at the two firms.