An ongoing feud between Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA), and California has subsided for now as Alameda County has officially allowed Tesla to reopen its Fremont factory and resume its manufacturing of Tesla vehicles, at least for the time being. Tesla is the largest manufacturer in the state, employing over 20,000 workers statewide with half that number at its Fremont plant.
While Tesla was ordered to close temporarily amid the coronavirus pandemic, Musk refused to keep the Fremont plant closed, even tweeting "the coronavirus panic is dumb." Tesla ultimately sued Alameda County in federal court, resulting in the decision for the plant to reopen.
Before the lawsuit, Alameda County wasn't officially allowing Tesla to reopen presumably due to concerns over public health risk factors. Musk not only publicly disagreed with that decision but also claimed that Tesla reopening was simply an act of following state and federal guidelines.
As Tesla pointed out on their website, state and federal governments classified vehicle manufacturing as "national critical infrastructure," which seemingly would mean that, legally, Tesla should have been allowed to resume operations according to state regulations, even if their Fremont plant had previously been closed.
As such, it would appear that Tesla's defiance was against Alameda County specifically, not necessarily with California as a whole, and that Tesla has now come out on top as far as legal operations in accordance with state regulations.
President Donald Trump even weighed in on the controversy before the lawsuit, tweeting: "California should let Tesla & @elonmusk open the plant, NOW. It can be done Fast & Safely!" Musk replied with, "Thank you!"
Despite Musk's public feud with Alameda County over reopening Tesla's Fremont plant, and his ongoing comments on the widespread public response to the pandemic, Musk doesn't appear to be disregarding health concerns at all when it comes to Tesla working conditions.
The company appears to be taking public health concerns quite seriously, similar to other essential businesses that have reopened or have remained open during the pandemic.
According to Tesla's "Return to Work Playbook," safety measures and precautions are being enforced at the plant such as more frequent cleaning of facilities, providing hand sanitizer, and requiring workers to practice social distancing.
Due to this controversy, Musk has threatened to move Tesla's headquarters out of California.