Tesla Sues Alameda County, Musk Threatens To Pull Company Out of California

Tesla on Saturday filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction and declaratory relief against Alameda Countys shelter-in-place order, in a move hoped to allow the automaker to resume operations at its its factory in Fremont, California.

CEO Elon Musk announced his companys intentions to “immediately” file the lawsuit in a series of tweets on Saturday, adding that Tesla would relocate its headquarters and future programs out-of-state and appeared to reference the interim health officer of Alameda County, Dr. Erica Pan.

“Tesla is filing a lawsuit against Alameda County immediately. The unelected & ignorant Interim Health Officer of Alameda is acting contrary to the Governor, the President, our Constitutional freedoms & just plain common sense!” he wrote.

“Frankly, this is the final straw. Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately,” he added. “If we even retain Fremont manufacturing activity at all, it will be dependant on how Tesla is treated in the future. Tesla is the last carmaker left in CA.”

The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for Californias Northern District, states that “the county is making rules that directly contradict and undermine the policy announced by the governor in his orders,” and that “the countys orders should be declared void and without legal effect.”

Telsa was forced to suspend operations at its Fremont factory on March 23, following days of arguing with the county over whether the electric vehicle and clean energy company was classed as an “essential business” under Bay Area shelter-in-place orders instituted on March 16, which sought to prevent the spread of CCP virus, commonly referred to as novel coronavirus.

On Thursday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued new guidance allowing some manufacturers to resume operations, a move which won support from Musk, who reportedly sent an internal email to employees about plans to reopen business on Friday, based on the governors revised order.

According to the email, Musk stated that limited operation would resume at the Fremont factory with 30 per cent of normal headcount per shift but noted that employees who feel uncomfortable returning to work were not obligated to do so.

However, Alameda County, along with several other Bay Area counties and cities, last week extended the stay-at-home orders until the end of May and, during a video streamed town hall meeting Friday, said that Tesla did not have the “green light” to reopen, Reuters reported.

“Weve been working with them, but we have not given the green light,” Alameda County Health OfRead More – Source