--- title: "Ex-Tesla Employee Says If You Disagree With Elon Musk You’re Getting Fired" description: "You probably wouldn't want to let Tesla CEO Elon Musk know you disagree with him if you want any hope of keeping your job." date: "2022-08-18" modified: "2022-08-18" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/ex-tesla-employee-disagree-elon-musk" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "Tesla" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Ex-Tesla Employee Says If You Disagree With Elon Musk You’re Getting Fired ![You probably wouldn't want to let Tesla CEO Elon Musk know you disagree with him if you want any hope of keeping your job.]() *\Image: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images\* ## Mixed Bag Eccentric tech billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk is no stranger to scrutiny, but a new interview with a former Tesla employee reveals some nuanced insights into what Musk was like in the early days of the company. Speaking as a guest on [an episode]() of "The Iced Coffee Hour" podcast, former Tesla territory manager Carl Medlock — who now runs his own EV repair shop in Seattle, WA — spoke at length about his time at Tesla, including his interactions with Musk. Some details Medlock shared were more innocuous, like Musk’s habit of sleeping at his desk. Others, though, were a little more worrying. "You don’t argue with him," Medlock said, as [quoted by ]()*[Insider](). "*When Elon stands up at the end of a meeting and says, 'This is the direction we’re going to go,' you stand up from your chair and you better head that direction. Because he’s not one for people back-talking — he’ll just let you go." He noted that Musk could be "intimidating," and that "if you were getting micromanaged by Elon, you were probably on your way out." That’s not surprising, as Musk has been widely reported to [fire employees on a whim](), even allegedly tramping the factory floors "red-faced and urgent, interrogating workers." ## Janus-Faced As bad as that all sounds, Medlock reserved some praise for Musk too, calling him "very disciplined." "He’s actually a really good guy," Medlock said. "He’s incredibly smart, so he’s intimidating in that regard, but if you look at it based on his kids," he added. "The guy loves his kids, he loves his family, he’s a good dad and he’s just easy to talk to." Sounds like things aren’t too bad if you’re on Musk’s good side, but these days, [who is]()? Is firing people who disagree with you the mark of a bold visionary, or will it lead to surrounding oneself with sycophants? Musk has also spent a lot more time in the spotlight since his (relatively speaking) humbler Tesla startup days, with mounting accounts of his [tyrannical behavior](), and even the alleged silencing of [sexual allegations](). So is Musk really a "good guy?" A safer characterization would probably be "very, very complicated." **More on Elon Musk:** [*William Shatner Blasts "Supervillain" Elon Musk*]() ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()