Fired SpaceX employees claim unfair labor practices, call out Elon Musk
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Former SpaceX (SPACE) employees fired in the wake of an open letter criticizing CEO Elon Musk have filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, per the New York Times.
The outlet indicated that 8 employees have alleged unfair labor practices and retaliation over the letter. The letter criticized Muskâs public persona and urged him to down his social media presence.
âElonâs behavior in the public sphere is a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment for us, particularly in recent weeks,â the letter stated. âAs our CEO and most prominent spokesperson, Elon is seen as the face of SpaceX â every Tweet that Elon sends is a de facto public statement by the company.â
The employees also complained about SpaceX executives lack of response to accusations of sexual harassment levied against Musk. Jon Edwards, Vice President of Falcon Launch Vehicles, was called out by name for his avoidance of the issue in the Times reporting.
Senior engineer Tom Moline added in a statement released through the Lieff Cabraser & Burgess Law firm representing the engineers that management turned âa blind eye to the ongoing mistreatment, harassment, and abuse reported by my colleagues, much of which was directly encouraged and inspired by the words and actions of the CEO.â His colleague Paige Holland-Thielen claimed that she faced âdeep cultural problemsâ as a woman engineer at SpaceX as well.
Those circulating the letter were later let go as SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell said the letter campaign made âemployees feel uncomfortable, intimidated and bullied, and/or angry because the letter pressured them to sign onto something that did not reflect their views.â A total of 5 employees were fired immediately after the open letterâs publication while 4 more were let go by the end of the summer after their involvement became known. 8 of the 9 employees are involved in the filing of the official complaint.
Musk has received criticism for his management style at both Tesla (TSLA) and Twitter (TWTR). As of late, a number of Twitter employees have reported firings for comments critical of Musk.
Read more on Muskâs plans to step away from his top role at Twitter in the future.