Last Updated:
Elon Musk faced a lawsuit in San Francisco alleging preference for H1-B visa holders over Americans, with over 6000 US citizens laid off and 1355 visa holders hired in 2024.
Tesla owner Elon Musk was sued for preferring visa holders over US employees to cut costs.
The world’s richest person and the chief of Tesla, X (Twitter), and SpaceX companies Elon Musk is embroiled in a legal battle after a lawsuit filed on Friday accused him of favouring H1-B visa holders over Americans while making employment decisions. According to a Reuters report, Musk made this favour in employment to pay less to those visa holders.
The Reuters report stated that Tesla has been accused for violating federal civil rights law through its “systematic preference” to hire visa holders as per a proposed class action filed in San Francisco. It added that Musk-led Tesla fired Americans at disproportionate rates compared with visa holders.
In 2024, Tesla laid off over 6000 workers, particularly US citizens, while the automaker hired an estimated 1,355 visa holders. According to Reuters report, Tesla is dependent on holders of H-1B visas.
The lawsuit was filed by software engineer Scott Taub and HR specialist Sofia Brander, who alleged that Tesla turned them away once it became clear they did not require visa sponsorship, signaling they were U.S. citizens. Taub claimed he was discouraged from applying for one role after being told it was reserved for “H-1B only,” and was later denied an interview for another position. Brander alleged that despite having worked with Tesla twice as a contract employee, the company declined to interview her for two full-time roles.
This came amidst a new pay package approved by Tesla board. It could shoot Elon Musk into that glorious milestone – first trillionaire in the world, if the company were successful in achieving targets and goals, including market capitalization, vehicle sales, and robotics deployment, in the next 10 years.
The pay package worth $1 trillion is being called the largest executive compensation in history.
However, shareholders of Tesla have to approve the pay plan in a voting scheduled for November, 06, 2025.
Tesla shares regained the upward momentum after dropping substantially in 2025 over many reasons, including Musk’s role as DOGE head. After his exit from the Federal role, the confidence of investors returns, as the stocks are up 7 per cent in the past one month and 33 per cent in the past six months.
Varun Yadav is a Sub Editor at News18 Business Digital. He writes articles on markets, personal finance, technology, and more. He completed his post-graduation diploma in English Journalism from the Indian Inst…Read More
Varun Yadav is a Sub Editor at News18 Business Digital. He writes articles on markets, personal finance, technology, and more. He completed his post-graduation diploma in English Journalism from the Indian Inst… Read More
September 14, 2025, 11:31 IST
Read More
