As Alameda County health ficials extend restrictions until June 1st, Tesla founder Elon Musk files a lawsuit and threatens to move the company to another state.
Elon Musk sparked outrage after expressing his views on the current restrictions placed in Alameda County in California where the Tesla HQ is located. Over the weekend, Elon Musk touched Twitter with a hot take on the current social distancing rules and how they’ve not just impacted all businesses across the state but his business specifically.
“Tesla is filing a lawsuit against Alameda County immediately. The unelected & ignorant “Interim Health Officer” Alameda is acting contrary to the Governor, the President, our Constitutional freedoms & just plain common sense,” he wrote on Twitter in response to the extension social distancing rules until June 1st.
“Frankly, this is the final straw,” he added in a separate tweet. “Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately. If we even retain Fremont manufacturing activity at all, it will be dependent on how Tesla is treated in the future. Tesla is the last carmaker left in CA.”
Tesla was forced to close down their factory on March 23rd. Musk has been vehemently against the stay-at-home orders, especially towards the end April when quarterly earnings statements were released. But a rep for the county’s health department revealed they were devising a plan with Tesla. “We look forward to coming to an agreement on an appropriate safety plan very soon,” the statement said. “It is our collective responsibility to move through the phases reopening and loosening the restrictions the shelter-in-place order in the safest way possible, guided by data and science.”