Elon Musk’s America PAC is facing a class action lawsuit over its promise to pay petition signers and signature collectors.
Three plaintiffs from Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Nevada filed the lawsuit on May 8. It alleged that the billionaire-backed super PAC failed to compensate individuals who signed or referred others to sign a petition during President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign.
Musk’s PAC initially promised to pay each registered voter in seven swing states who signed the PAC’s “Petition in Favor of Free Speech and the Right to Bear Arms” $47, an amount that was later increased to $100 for Pennsylvania. The same reward was also promised for each successful referral of a registered voter in swing states who signed the petition, at $100 per signature, only in Pennsylvania.
According to the complaint filed in the Eastern District Court of Pennsylvania, Steven Reid worked as a canvasser for America PAC in Michigan and Georgia and referred “many voters” to sign the petition. But despite repeated attempts to collect payment, Reid was never compensated, according to the complaint, and estimates he is owed “several thousand dollars.”
“Plaintiffs are in communication with numerous others who referred voters to sign the America PAC petition, who are likewise frustrated that they did not receive full payments for their referrals,” the lawsuit alleged.
“There are expected to be more than 100 Class Members, and the amount in controversy is expected to exceed $5,000,000,” the lawsuit added.
An attorney for Musk, representatives of Tesla, and the America PAC did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
This is the second legal challenge regarding America PAC’s petition payment promise. A separate class-action suit filed on April 1 by an anonymous Pennsylvania man in Bucks County made similar claims, alleging that Musk’s PAC owes him $20,000 for signature-gathering work.
“Plaintiff has repeatedly contacted Defendants, making multiple attempts to receive full payment for his referrals, but to no avail,” the complaint said.
These payment pledges, made on Musk’s own X account and through ads authorized by the America PAC, aren’t the only instances in which the richest man in the world promised to pay individuals for participating in a political activity.
In Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race, Musk also promised, through a social media post, to pay $1 million each to two Wisconsin electors who had already voted and attended his event. The post was made on March 27, before the poll closes by the end of April 1.
The candidate that Musk championed eventually lost the Wisconsin Supreme Court race.
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