Eight Former SpaceX Employees File Lawsuit Over Unfair Dismissal

"Fired After Criticizing Musk's Sexual Harassment Allegations"
Musk Accused of Sexual Harassment by Company Private Jet Flight Attendant in 2016

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla. Photo by AP Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] Former employees of the U.S. private space exploration company SpaceX have filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, alleging wrongful termination. They claim they were fired for delivering a letter to SpaceX management criticizing Musk amid sexual harassment allegations and demanding improvements in the company culture.

On the 17th (local time), according to The New York Times (NYT) and the Associated Press (AP), eight former SpaceX employees filed a complaint with the U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) the previous day, accusing the company of unfair labor practices.

In the complaint, they stated that they were terminated after delivering a letter in June raising concerns about Musk’s alleged sexual harassment of SpaceX’s company jet crew and his inappropriate public remarks on Twitter. Musk is the founder and CEO of SpaceX.

Earlier, in May, the U.S. economic media outlet Business Insider reported allegations that Musk groped a female crew member’s legs or demanded sexual acts on a SpaceX private jet bound for London, UK, in 2016.

According to Business Insider, the victim formally raised the issue with SpaceX in 2018, two years after the incident, and Musk and SpaceX paid her $250,000 (approximately 350 million KRW) in a settlement to prevent related lawsuits from being filed.

After these facts became public, SpaceX employees criticized Musk, the subject of the allegations, through a letter and demanded that the company strengthen its sexual harassment prevention and response measures.

The letter reportedly included requests to separate Musk’s personal brand from the company, citing that his sexually offensive expressions and political remarks on Twitter negatively affect the company and its members. It also urged that Musk’s actions violated company regulations and called for consistent and transparent procedures to be taken.

However, the company notified five employees who led the letter’s drafting of their termination just one day after the public criticism, and after further investigation, four more were fired.

Meanwhile, U.S. labor law legally protects workers who unite for better working conditions. If the NLRB determines that the termination violated the law, it can order the reinstatement of the workers and payment of back wages for the period of dismissal.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.