I suspect (correct me if I'm wrong) that a large part of your opinion is based on the fairly offensive word "poach" that implies that employees are the employer's property in some way.

If that were taken out of the article, perhaps it would make more sense? I think that as 'geofft points out, the fact that this person was trying-to-recruit (not "poach") employees for a future startup while on the job is one of the reasons for Tesla's suit. I think the other reason they give (allegedly stealing data) is far more compelling if true.