Texas, June 13:
Alleging they were "wrongfully fired" for raising concerns about "sexual harassment" and "discrimination" in the workplace, eight former workers of Elon Musk’s SpaceX sued the firm and Musk on Wednesday.
In 2022, the workers were let off after spreading an open letter that asked SpaceX leadership to denounce Musk's remarks on Twitter, which was thereafter rebranded as X. They considered Musk's comments on Twitter to be "a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment." The lawsuit states that when Musk learned of the letter, he ordered the terminations.
Laurie Burgess, the attorney for the eight former SpaceX workers, stated, "Our eight brave clients stood up to him and were fired for doing so." "We look forward to holding Musk accountable for his actions at trial." A sum of money in compensatory damages is what the plaintiffs are aiming for. As of this writing, SpaceX has chosen not to address the charges. According to the New York Times, the case was filed in a Los Angeles state court and characterised SpaceX's workplace as a "Animal House" characterised by sexually provocative and inappropriate behaviour.
Multiple plaintiffs claimed that other SpaceX workers had harassed them in a way that "mimicked Musk's posts," leading to "a wildly uncomfortable hostile work environment." Additionally, the lawsuit states that SpaceX executives were repeatedly informed of complaints regarding Musk's explicit social media posts, but those complaints were consistently "dismissed," even following a "sexual harassment internal audit" carried out by Gwynne Shotwell, president and COO of SpaceX. The email that Shotwell sent to SpaceX workers after their dismissal said, "too much critical work to accomplish and no need for this kind of overreaching activism," according to the New York Times' citation of the email.
These eight workers have already taken SpaceX to the National Labour Relations Board to file accusations. Defying the allegations, SpaceX filed a lawsuit against the labour board in January, claiming that the agency's structure makes it unlawful and so the complaint ought to be rejected. The complaint was initiated just one day prior to the expected conclusion of Tesla shareholders' vote on Musk's compensation package, which is estimated to be worth approximately USD 45 billion. This came after a Wall Street Journal article on Tuesday that detailed Musk's history of having sexual connections with coworkers.
Workers have long held grievances about Musk, and this lawsuit is just the most recent instalment. Following allegations that he had exposed himself to an employee aboard a private plane, SpaceX paid USD 250,000 to settle the claim in 2022, according to Business Insider. (Mr. Musk walked back his denial of the "wild accusations." Following his acquisition of Twitter, Musk fired about half of the company's employees and two dozen of its critics from within. According to the New York Times, SpaceX was sued by the Justice Department in August of last year for allegedly "discriminating" against asylum seekers and refugees in its recruiting practices. One of the plaintiffs, Paige Holland-Thielen, expressed the hope that their colleagues will remain resilient and continue to struggle for a more equitable workplace in a statement.
