A US employment agency accused satellite manufacturer SpaceX on Wednesday of unlawful dismissal of eight employees for distributing a letter that called founder and CEO Elon Musk “distraction and embarrassment,” Reuters informed.
A regional official with the National Labour Relations Board (NLRB) filed the complaint, saying SpaceX violated the employees’ rights under federal labour law to unite and advocate for better working conditions.
The letter, sent to SpaceX executives in June 2022, focused on a series of tweets Musk had made since 2020, many of which were sexual in nature. Employees claimed Musk’s statements did not comply with the company’s policies on diversity and misconduct in the workplace and called on SpaceX to condemn them.
The complaint also accuses SpaceX of questioning employees about the letter, humiliating the employees involved and threatening to fire employees who engaged in similar activities.
Deborah Lawrence, one of the fired employees, stated that SpaceX had a “toxic culture” in which harassment, especially against women, was tolerated.
We wrote the open letter to leadership not out of malice, but because we cared about the mission and the people around us.
The NLRB General Counsel acts as a prosecutor and refers cases to a five-member board appointed by the president. If SpaceX does not settle the case, it will be heard by an administrative judge, whose decision can be appealed to the board and then to a federal appeals court. A hearing is scheduled for March 5.
When the NLRB finds that the layoffs violated labour laws, it can order the employees reinstated and back pay. If SpaceX is found to have violated the law, it could also face harsher penalties in future cases before the board.
In November, Reuters documented at least 600 previously unreported workplace injuries at SpaceX facilities, including broken limbs, electrocutions, head injuries and one fatal injury.
In October, the NLRB filed a complaint accusing X, the Musk-owned social network formerly known as Twitter, of unlawfully firing an employee for tweets challenging the company’s return-to-work policy. X denies culpability.
Electric car maker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O), of which Musk is CEO, has also faced several NLRB complaints amid a campaign to organise unions and multiple lawsuits alleging widespread racial discrimination at its plants. Tesla declared that it does not tolerate discrimination.
