There have been complaints filed with the National Labor Relations Board by former SpaceX employees who claim they were punished for expressing criticism of Elon Musk in an open letter. According to the New York Times, the eight sacked workers were instrumental in organizing the company’s employees to write an open letter condemning Musk’s online behavior.
The letter was written in response to a tweet by Musk, in which he made fun of a report claiming he settled a sexual harassment claim by a company flight attendant for $250,000. Musk, for his part, has refuted the claims. As noted in a letter obtained by the Verge that was first published in June, “Elon’s behavior in the public sphere is a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment for us, particularly in recent weeks,”
SpaceX vice president of Falcon Launch vehicles Jon Edwards reportedly informed a group of 20 employees that the letter was a “extreme act” and a distraction after it was sent, according to a report in The New York Times. According to the allegation, nine workers were let go for speaking out against Musk. In the letter, workers complained that SpaceX was failing to uphold its “no asshole” policy, and they requested that the firm “publicly address and condemn Elon’s harmful Twitter behavior”.
The accusation against Musk at SpaceX coincides with his public retaliation against employees who publicly corrected or criticized him at another firm he now leads. According to the New York Times, Musk has also reportedly assigned subordinates to scour internal emails in an effort to root out dissenters, in addition to terminating Twitter employees who have openly opposed Musk in tweets.
The National Labor Relations Board, which defends workers’ ability to seek improved working conditions without fear of punishment, has already challenged some of Musk’s enterprises. The National Labor Relations Board affirmed a ruling from March 2021 that found Tesla guilty of unfair labor practices by dismissing an employee for trying to form a union and by posting a tweet by Musk discouraging unionization.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 18, 2022
In addition, Tesla made workers “renew their vows” and sign a new secrecy agreement in light of the breaches. On the other hand, the media blackout provision in the non-disclosure agreement was ruled illegal. The SpaceX team did not immediately return our calls seeking comment.
In a letter sent to SpaceX in June, workers voiced their disapproval of Musk’s public behavior and asked the company to reconfirm its commitment to its zero-tolerance policy regarding sexual harassment. However, other SpaceX employees have already spoken out about a culture of misogyny and pervasive harassment, and the letter tackles Musk’s tweets making light of the charges against him described in the Business Insider piece.
Ashley Kosak, a former engineer, claimed in a blog post that the business repeatedly ignored her complaints of sexual harassment when she first started there as an intern. She wasn’t alone in her experience of harassment from male colleagues and supervisors at the internship site. “To be clear: recent events are not isolated incidents,” employees wrote in the June open letter. “They are emblematic of a wider culture that underserves many of the people who enable SpaceX’s extraordinary accomplishments.”
Last Lines
Former SpaceX workers have filed complaints with the National Labor Relations Board, claiming they were disciplined after writing an open letter critical of Elon Musk. The New York Times reports that the eight fired employees were important in rallying other Tesla staff to compose an open letter criticizing Musk’s tweets.
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