Elon Musk sues county over COVID-19, says Tesla HQ will leave California

Tesla sued Alameda County on Saturday to reopen the automobile factory in Fremont, California. This is a new chapter in Chief Executive Elon Musk’s months-long struggle for the restrictions imposed on the United States Coronavirus pandemic. Tesla will also relocate its California headquarters and possibly stop manufacturing cars at the factory, he said. “I’m not playing around” Musk tweeted.

“The county establishes rules that directly contradict and undermine the policies announced by the governor in its orders,” Tesla said in his lawsuit against the county. “The orders of the district should be declared void and without legal effect.” (See the full lawsuit below.)

Tesla closed the Fremont plant in March when the state and county tried to curb the spread of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus. California Governor Gavin Newsom announced plans Let some companies reopen Musk cheered on Friday. But Alameda County, where Fremont is located, said Tesla has no permission to start reopening the plant.

Alameda County health officials have worked directly with Tesla on a plan to safely reopen the factory, the county said in a statement on Saturday. “The Tesla team has responded to our guidelines and recommendations, and we look forward to reaching agreement on an appropriate security plan soon,” said the county. People and businesses have made sacrifices to save lives and “we must continue to work together so that these victims are not wasted.”

The dispute shows conflicting priorities in combating the pandemic: restarting businesses can get people back to work, but relaxing restrictions on shelters poses risks to public health. According to COVID-19, more than 78,000 people in the United States and 277,000 people worldwide died from COVID-19 Figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Elon Musk vents on Twitter

Musk who has problems with what he is called the corona virus “panic” is not pleased with his company’s restrictions on electric vehicle manufacturing. Tesla has just started production it is Model Y., a crossover network based on the earlier Model 3 sedan.

“Tesla immediately files a lawsuit against Alameda County. Alameda’s unelected and ignorant interim health officer violates the governor, the president, our constitutional freedoms, and common sense!” Musk said in a tweet.

“To be honest, this is the last straw,” added Musk another tweet. “Tesla will now move its headquarters and future programs to Texas / Nevada immediately. If we keep Fremont’s manufacturing operations at all, it will.” [depend] about how Tesla will be treated in the future. Tesla is the last automaker in California. “

The Tesla factory could have reopened on May 18

Alameda County had been working on a plan to let Tesla reopen the factory on May 18. A district official, Scott Haggerty, told the New York Times. But a Tesla manager told him Thursday that Musk was considering a lawsuit, which would slow his talks with Tesla.

The criticized health official Musk is Dr. Erica Pan, interim health officer of the Department of Control and Prevention of Communicable Diseases in Alameda County. She attended Tufts University School of Medicine, was a resident of the medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, and worked at the University of Pediatric Infectious Diseases UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland.

Pan did not immediately respond to requests for comments. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and Tesla’s lawyers declined to comment.

Tesla outlined its plan to restart the factory in one 38-page back-to-work plan published Saturday on its website. “Our restart plan is the result of months of careful planning and preparation. It was modeled on the comprehensive return plan we created at our Gigafactory in Shanghai, which has been running smoothly and healthily over the past three months,” said Tesla . “The position of the county left us with no choice but to take legal action to ensure that Tesla and its employees can work again.”

Governor of California plans to reopen stores

The California Business Reopening Policy is a four-step plan. “We’re now in early phase 2, in retail (roadside and delivery only), related logistics and Manufacturing and major companies can open up, “said the state plan’s website on Friday. The plan offers one Provision so that the counties can move faster if they meet readiness criteria.

Alameda County and six other districts in the San Francisco Bay Area announced Thursday that they were “working to find ways to safely reopen more businesses and activities.”

“We appreciate that the governor realizes that California communities are affected differently by corona viruses and can make decisions locally.” the counties said in Thursday’s statement. “If a circular order differs from a state order in our current environment, the more restrictive order takes precedence.”

Fremont Mayor Lily Mei offered Tesla some support. “As ordering of local accommodations continues without precautions to resume key manufacturing operations such as Tesla, I am increasingly concerned about the potential impact on our regional economy. We know that many key companies have demonstrated that they can successfully operate strict security and social distancing practices, “and that should also be possible with large manufacturing facilities,” she said in a statement on Saturday. The city will support Tesla once it “is committed to a thoughtful, balanced approach … that remains safe for our Fremont community,” she said.

Tesla’s current headquarters are located in Palo Alto, California, across from Fremont. “I would be really sad and disappointed if @Tesla left @cityofpaloalto and ready to help.” The Mayor of Palo Alto, Adrian Fine, tweeted Saturday.

Not everyone was so personable. “Elon Musk threatens to take people’s jobs unless he is allowed to risk their health. Capitalism is at its worst” Former Labor Minister Robert Reich tweeted.

Tesla vs Alameda County Law … by jonathan_skillings on Scribd