Downplaying it as a ruse is like describing a mugging as a property dispute.

Musk (1) impersonated a manager to (2) declare a fraudulent employment policy in order to (3) threaten employees and create a hostile working environment with the goal of (4) constructive dismissal.

P.S. Item #1 may not apply depending on on some other court cases, where the Trump administration is refusing to say exactly WTF Musk's role actually is, probably because no matter which mutually-exclusive thing they pick they've still broken the law.