Tesla didn’t squelch United Auto Workers message when it cracked down on T-shirts, court says

By KEVIN McGILL
Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal appeals court in New Orleans says automaker Tesla did not infringe on its workers’ rights to unionize when it ordered employees at a California assembly plant to stop wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the United Auto Workers logo. The ruling this week from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals noted that Tesla allowed workers to affix pro-union stickers on to company-issued clothing. The court threw out a 3-2 decision issued last year by the National Labor Relations Board, which had said Tesla couldn’t prohibit union attire. The case involves clothing the company issued to workers to prevent damage to recently painted cars.