SpaceX Illegally Fired Workers Critical of Elon Musk, Say Feds

SpaceX has been accused of illegally firing eight employees for sharing an open letter that was critical of the company’s CEO Elon Musk.

According to allegations outlined in a complaint filed by a regional office of the National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday, SpaceX fired the workers in 2022 after the employees wrote and circulated a letter denouncing Musk’s behavior following sexual misconduct claims against him.

The letter called on SpaceX leadership to address and enforce its harassment polices in the workplace. “Elon’s behavior in the public sphere is a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment for us, particularly in recent weeks,” the letter read. “As our CEO and most prominent spokesperson, Elon is seen as the face of SpaceX — every Tweet that Elon sends is a de facto public statement by the company. It is critical to make clear to our teams and to our potential talent pool that his messaging does not reflect our work, our mission, or our values.”

In the complaint, federal labor officials accused SpaceX’s president and chief operating officer, Gwynne Shotwell, of illegally restricting workers from sharing the letter, per The New York Times. Other executives and managers were also linked to similar infractions.

In a statement to CBS News, the NLRB alleged the space exploration company “told other employees that the eight were discharged for participating in the open letter, interrogated other employees about the open letter (and instructed employees not to discuss the investigatory interviews), created an impression of surveillance (including reading and showing screenshots of communications between employees), disparaged participation in the open letter, and restricted employees from distributing the open letter.”

Representatives for SpaceX and NLRB did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone’s requests for comment.

Unless the company settles the case beforehand, a hearing on the complaint is scheduled to be held before an administrative judge on March 5, per CBS.

The billionaire has suffered multiple legal woes over the past two years. In May 2022, Business Insider reported that Musk had been accused of exposing himself to a flight attendant for SpaceX in 2016 and that the company paid $250,000 to settle the sexual misconduct claim against him in 2018. In August 2023, the United States Department of Justice’s civil rights division filed an employment discrimination lawsuit against the company, alleging that it discriminated against asylees and refugees in its hiring practices.

Musk’s other ventures have also been hit with their own share of legal setbacks. Ad agency X Social Media sued X. Corp last fall, arguing that consumers are likely to to confuse their ad services with the Musk-owned company.

In December, X failed to block a California law that requires social media companies to disclose their content-moderation policies. X, formerly Twitter, sued the state in September and argued that the law violated free speech rights protected under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment and California’s state constitution.

“While the reporting requirement does appear to place a substantial compliance burden on social medial companies, it does not appear that the requirement is unjustified or unduly burdensome within the context of First Amendment law,” U.S. District Judge William Shubb wrote in the ruling.

SpaceX has been accused of illegally firing eight employees for sharing an open letter that was critical of the company’s CEO Elon Musk.

According to allegations outlined in a complaint filed by a regional office of the National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday, SpaceX fired the workers in 2022 after the employees wrote and circulated a letter denouncing Musk’s behavior following sexual misconduct claims against him.

The letter called on SpaceX leadership to address and enforce its harassment polices in the workplace. “Elon’s behavior in the public sphere is a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment for us, particularly in recent weeks,” the letter read. “As our CEO and most prominent spokesperson, Elon is seen as the face of SpaceX — every Tweet that Elon sends is a de facto public statement by the company. It is critical to make clear to our teams and to our potential talent pool that his messaging does not reflect our work, our mission, or our values.”

In the complaint, federal labor officials accused SpaceX’s president and chief operating officer, Gwynne Shotwell, of illegally restricting workers from sharing the letter, per The New York Times. Other executives and managers were also linked to similar infractions.

In a statement to CBS News, the NLRB alleged the space exploration company “told other employees that the eight were discharged for participating in the open letter, interrogated other employees about the open letter (and instructed employees not to discuss the investigatory interviews), created an impression of surveillance (including reading and showing screenshots of communications between employees), disparaged participation in the open letter, and restricted employees from distributing the open letter.”

Representatives for SpaceX and NLRB did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone’s requests for comment.

Unless the company settles the case beforehand, a hearing on the complaint is scheduled to be held before an administrative judge on March 5, per CBS.

The billionaire has suffered multiple legal woes over the past two years. In May 2022, Business Insider reported that Musk had been accused of exposing himself to a flight attendant for SpaceX in 2016 and that the company paid $250,000 to settle the sexual misconduct claim against him in 2018. In August 2023, the United States Department of Justice’s civil rights division filed an employment discrimination lawsuit against the company, alleging that it discriminated against asylees and refugees in its hiring practices.

Musk’s other ventures have also been hit with their own share of legal setbacks. Ad agency X Social Media sued X. Corp last fall, arguing that consumers are likely to to confuse their ad services with the Musk-owned company.

In December, X failed to block a California law that requires social media companies to disclose their content-moderation policies. X, formerly Twitter, sued the state in September and argued that the law violated free speech rights protected under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment and California’s state constitution.

“While the reporting requirement does appear to place a substantial compliance burden on social medial companies, it does not appear that the requirement is unjustified or unduly burdensome within the context of First Amendment law,” U.S. District Judge William Shubb wrote in the ruling.