Tesla Fired 2 Workers Who Refused To Return To Work: Report

FREMONT, CA — It's been more than a month since Tesla reopened its assembly plant in Fremont, the city's largest employer. Now, two employees who refused to return to work because they say they fear catching coronavirus have been fired, SF Gate reports.

Elon Musk told employees in an email in early May that if they "feel uncomfortable coming back to work at this time, please do not feel obligated to do so."

But Carlos Gabriel and Jessica Naro say they received emails last week from the company's human resources department titled "Failure to Return to Work." They were informed they would be terminated by Tesla, although they could dispute the matter and be brought back on, but with the implication that they would have to return to work.

Both Gabriel and Naro appeared at a news conference where they questioned coronavirus safety measures at the plant. Shortly after the news conference, they received their emails.

Although the pair have no first hand knowledge of conditions because they have not worked post-shutdown, employees who've returned to work say they're worried. Branton Phillips works on the assembly line and is grateful for a steady paycheck. However, he said, "it's hot and sweaty inside there, we're working 11-hour days and we're stressed out. It's making for real - sometimes very - tense situations inside."

The workers have personal protective equipment, and the plant is sanitized, but some workers wonder if it's enough.

Naro decided not to return to work because her 6-year-old son was hospitalized with a respiratory illness this year. "I actually spoke with a [supervisor] ... and he said, 'Do you have any idea when you're gonna be returning back?' and I said, 'When covid-19 is over.' "

Company founder Elon Musk restarted the Tesla plant in defiance of an Alameda County health order and said that he was prepared to be arrested for the action. He also threatened to move all operations, including the assembly plant and corporate headquarters, out of California. Fremont Mayor Lily Mei urged temperance on all sides. An agreement to reopen was reached within days.

Since Musk's email to workers about returning to work, Alameda County health authorities have greatly loosened shelter-in-place restrictions.

Read more at SF Gate

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