Tesla has received a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission over a settlement that required CEO Elon Musk’s tweets to be vetted if they contained material information, Reuters reported Monday (Feb. 7).
The subpoena, issued Nov. 16, came around 10 days after Musk asked his Twitter followers if he should sell 10% of his stake in the company.
The action was disclosed in a Tesla securities filing.
There were other similar issues, such as a lawsuit from December over Musk’s social media posts — including a Twitter poll on stock sales, which had negative effects on the company’s share price.
This development compounds the pressures federal auto safety regulators are placing on the company over vehicle recalls and driver assistance software investigations.
Last year, the SEC also opened an investigation into a whistleblower complaint that Tesla had not properly notified shareholders or the public of fire risks over solar panel system defects in the last few years.
In reply, Tesla said on Monday that it regularly works with government subpoenas and investigations.
The filing also saw Tesla saying that the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing looked into race discrimination and harassment in Tesla workplaces, saying it has grounds to file a civil complaint.
Tesla had already been fighting other lawsuits about racial abuse and sexual harassment. Last October, a federal jury ordered the company to pay $137 million to a black former contract worker on one of those cases, according to Reuters.
Regulators have also recently said Tesla has to fix its faulty full self-driving software, which impacted almost 54,000 Tesla vehicles.
Related: Regulators Ordered Tesla to Fix Malfunctioning ‘Full Self-Driving’ Software
The self-driving software allowed “rolling stops,” which let vehicles travel through intersections at up to 5.6 miles per hour before stopping.
The recall included Model S sedans and X SUVs from 2016 through 2022, as well as 2017 to 2022 Model 3 sedans and 2020 through 2022 Model Y SUVs.
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