The top judge in Delaware’s Court of Chancery is stepping away from three major lawsuits involving Elon Musk, following accusations from his legal team that she showed bias against the billionaire on social media, a report has said.
Kathaleen McCormick announced on Monday (March 30) that she will reassign the cases to other judges, following a tense back-and-forth in which Musk’s lawyers claimed McCormick had “supported” a LinkedIn post celebrating one of Musk’s recent legal losses.Business Insider reports that McCormick firmly denied the allegations, calling the premise of the motion “false” but anyway reassigned the case to different judges.“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. I am not biased against the defendants in these actions. In fact, I dismissed a suit against Mr. Musk just last year,” McCormick wrote.
The ‘LinkedIn emoji’ controversy
The dispute centered on a “heart” emoji – LinkedIn’s version of a “support” reaction. Musk’s attorneys filed a motion last week alleging that McCormick’s account reacted positively to a post critical of the Tesla CEO.
They also claimed a member of her staff “liked” a separate post that was unflattering to Musk.While the judge refused to officially recuse herself, she decided to hand the cases over to her colleagues anyway. McCormick explained that the “disproportionate media attention” surrounding her role was becoming a distraction.“Fortunately, the Court of Chancery is far greater than any one person,” McCormick wrote.
McCormick’s history of cases
McCormick has a long history of presiding over Musk’s legal cases.
In 2024, she famously ruled to strike down Musk’s $55 billion Tesla pay package (a ruling that was later overturned). She also handled the high-profile lawsuit that forced Musk to complete his $44 billion purchase of Twitter, now known as X.The three reassigned cases involve serious allegations from Tesla shareholders. Two lawsuits claim Musk prioritised his own interests over investors, while a third alleges the Tesla board failed to stop Musk from potentially violating a settlement with the SEC. Musk has denied any wrongdoing in all three matters.
