Court Rules Tesla Can Prohibit Workers From Wearing Union T-Shirts

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Overturns Previous NLRB Decision, Upholds Tesla's Uniform Policy

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Tesla did not violate U.S. labor law by prohibiting workers at its Fremont, California, assembly plant from wearing pro-union t-shirts.
The court overturned a 2022 decision by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which had said that any attempt to ban union insignia was unlawful unless an employer could show 'special circumstances' such as safety concerns.
Tesla's 'team wear' policy required employees to wear black shirts imprinted with the Tesla logo. The company has said the policy was necessary to ensure that vehicles were not damaged during assembly.
The court noted that Tesla still allowed workers 'to affix any number or size of union stickers to their team wear,' so it was not unlawfully interfering with union organizing.
The full 5th Circuit is separately considering Tesla's appeal of an NLRB decision that said CEO Elon Musk violated federal labor law by tweeting in 2018 that employees would lose stock options if they joined a union.