It was the puff tweeted around the world when Tesla CEO Elon Musk shared a few tokes of a joint with comedian Joe Rogan on Rogan’s podcast last week. Social media went abuzz with Musk’s devil-may-care attitude, adding to the disastrous public relations run that the tech giant has endured over the past month. And now a new issue, a Tesla employee fired for using marijuana.
Now, a former Tesla employee is adding more fuel to the fire. Crystal Guardado, a single mother, worked at Tesla’s Fremont, California, factory for four months. Guardado claims she was dismissed for violating the company’s “vague” drug use policy that Musk and Tesla allegedly use to terminate any employee they deem as a “threat.” This is adding more fuel to the fire in Musk world.
Related: Is This A Good Idea: Elon Musk Smokes Marijuana With Joe Rogan
So when Guardado watched Musk gallivanting with Rogan, smoking a joint and swilling whiskey, it reeked of hypocrisy.
“It was just like a slap in the face to me and my son,” Guardado told Bloomberg. “Elon Musk is just smoking it out in the open, knowing that he uses his very vague drug policy as a way to fire people that are a threat to him.”
What makes Guardado’s claims more alarming is that she never hid her cannabis use from Tesla. Instead she told a supervisors about “her outside-work, doctor-recommended use of drops that could make her test positive for THC.” Instead, Guardado insinuated her cannabis usage was pretense to fire her after she criticized the company’s safety issues and for supporting the United Auto Workers (UAW) union.
Related: Woman Fired For Consuming Weed After Work Is Not Going Down Without A Fight
Tesla told Bloomberg that no one at the company has been dismissed because of their support of the UAW. Instead a spokesperson said that Guardado was fired for violating the company substance abuse and testing policy. In a separate interview with the Guardian, Musk said, “Our policy allows trace amounts of THC during work times, provided they are below the safety limit (much like a minimum alcohol level).”
Tesla’s stock prices dropped following Musk’s appearance on the podcast. It should also be mentioned that a chief executive of the company announced his resignation on the same day, citing that the public scrutiny and negative attention the company had received in his short tenure.
