SpaceX Is Accused of Illegally Firing Workers Over Musk Comments
SpaceX illegally fired nine people earlier this year in retaliation for comments critical of founder Elon Musk and the company's culture, a former employee alleged in a complaint with federal regulators.
The terminated SpaceX workers include authors of an open letter protesting “inappropriate, disparaging, sexually charged comments on Twitter” by Musk, according to the Wednesday filing with the US National Labor Relations Board. The complaint says the workers were fired “for engaging in the core concerted protected activity of speaking up against SpaceX's failure and refusal to address the culture of sexism, harassment and discrimination.”
A representative of the company, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., didn't immediately respond Thursday to requests for comment.
The move ratchets up the tension over an unusually public incident for the closely held rocket-launch company. SpaceX fired several workers in June over the open letter, which called Musk's behavior “a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment for us,” and asked SpaceX leadership to condemn and distance itself from Musk's “personal brand.”
The fallout prompted a heated internal meeting, according to the New York Times, which earlier reported the NLRB filing. In that meeting, some workers pressed a manager on the recent report that the company had settled a sexual harassment claim against Musk, according to the Times.
US law prohibits companies from retaliating against workers for taking collective action related to their working conditions, with or without a union.
Claims filed with the NLRB are investigated by regional officials, who if they find merit in the allegations and can't secure a settlement, issue a complaint on behalf of the
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