Delaware judge forced to reassign Musk case after LinkedIn posts found blasting tech mogul

A Delaware judge has reassigned multiple lawsuits involving Tesla CEO Elon Musk after being accused of bias for endorsing a LinkedIn post that mocked him.

Delaware Court of Chancery Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick said in a filing that she would transfer the cases to other judges following concerns raised by Musk’s legal team. The attorneys cited a LinkedIn post where McCormick allegedly appeared to support criticisms of Musk.

McCormick denied the claims in her order, stating she does not support the posts in question and is not biased against Musk.

"The motion for recusal rests on a false premise—that I support a LinkedIn post about Mr. Musk, which I do not in fact support," the order said. "I am not biased against the defendants in these actions. In fact, I dismissed a suit against Mr. Musk just last year. The motion for recusal is denied."

Despite rejecting the motion, McCormick said the heightened media attention surrounding the cases could interfere with the case and would be "detrimental to the administration of justice." She has since stepped aside, and the cases will now be handled by other judges.

"Fortunately, the Court of Chancery is far greater than any one person," she said. "I have complete faith in the Vice Chancellors' abilities to adjudicate these matters."

Musk’s lawyers argued that McCormick used a “support emoji” on LinkedIn in response to a post referencing his loss in a separate California case tied to his 2022 posts on Twitter about the $44 billion acquisition of the platform. McCormick presided over that case, a report by Fox Business noted.

The attorneys also noted that a member of the judge’s staff appeared to react to another post critical of Musk amid ongoing litigation.

The lawyers wrote, "This post to which the Court reacted and another to which a Court staff member reacted are not simply negative criticism of Mr. Musk and his attorneys, they are inflammatory.”

McCormick, who has since deactivated the account, wrote in a letter to attorneys that she “did not click the ‘support’ icon at all,” or that she “did so accidentally.”