Former staff sue Tesla over ‘mass layoffs’ 

Former employees at Tesla are suing the electric vehicle maker for carrying out what they say are “mass layoffs“, which they claim violated the law by not giving advance notice.

In a lawsuit filed in Texas on Sunday, two former employees at the company’s Nevada factory allege Tesla violated the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act by terminating the Plaintiffs, who are seeking to represent a class of dismissed employees, without giving any advance notice. 

A period of 60 days advance written notice is required under the Act for companies employing 100 or more people like Tesla.

The plaintiffs and the class were laid off by Telsa “without cause on their part as part of mass layoffs” that began in May and June 2022, the complaint says. They are seeking damages in the amount of 60 days’ compensation and benefits, which they claim Tesla failed to pay.

“Tesla has failed to give Plaintiffs and the Class Members any advance written notice of their terminations,” the lawsuit claimed. “Instead, Tesla has simply notified the employees that their terminations would be effective immediately. Tesla has also failed to provide a statement of the basis for reducing the notification period to zero days advance notice.”

More than 500 workers were terminated at Tesla’s Nevada factory along with two plaintiffs.

Speaking at the Qatar Economic Forum today, Tesla CEO Elon Musk dismissed the lawsuit and said it was “trivial.” 

“Let’s not read too much into a pre-emptive lawsuit that has no standing,” he said 

Musk said the company still plans to cut its workforce by 10% while growing the hourly workforce.

“Technically a 10% reduction in the salaried workforce is roughly a 3-3.5% reduction in total headcount,” he said.