A planned class-action lawsuit in San Francisco is putting Tesla and its CEO, Elon Musk, in the middle of a fresh legal tempest. The petition says that the corporation consistently favors H1-B visa holders over American citizens when hiring. Scott Taub, a software engineer, and Sofia Brander, an HR expert, filed the case on Friday. It says that Tesla’s preference for visa holders was a way to pay cheaper salaries and that American employees were fired at a higher rate than other employees.
The complaint says that Taub and Brander were reportedly turned down for jobs once it became evident that they were U.S. citizens and didn’t need visa sponsorship. Taub says he was told that one job was solely for H-1B workers, and Brander was turned down for full-time jobs even though she had worked for the company before on a contract basis. The lawsuit points to an important piece of information: Tesla fired more over 6,000 people in 2024, most of whom were U.S. citizens, while recruiting about 1,355 visa holders.
The lawsuit is coming at a bad moment for Musk and the electric car company. The complaint was launched right after Tesla’s board approved a contentious new pay package for Musk. If the business reaches its ambitious performance goals, Musk will become the world’s first trillionaire. On November 6, 2025, shareholders will vote on the remuneration plan.
As of Sunday, neither Elon Musk nor Tesla had made an official public statement about the lawsuit’s claims. The firm is known for hiring H1-B visa holders, and now it is in a high-stakes court battle that could change its hiring rules and the outcome of the upcoming shareholder vote on Musk’s pay.