The US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is investigating Elon Musk’s SpaceX for unfairly firing eight employees who circulated a letter criticizing the CEO, calling him a “distraction and embarrassment.” A regional officer with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has charged SpaceX with breaking workers’ fundamental freedom to band together and advocate for better working conditions, which is protected by federal labour law. Employees focused on Musk’s posts on X, formerly Twitter, since 2020 in a letter circulated in June 2022, some of which were regarded as sexually provocative.
SpaceX can now choose to settle. If it does not settle, the lawsuit will be heard on March 5, 2024
The letter claimed that Musk’s words contradicted the company’s standards on diversity and workplace ethics, prompting SpaceX to denounce Musk’s behavior. The NLRB complaint goes beyond the terminations, accusing SpaceX of interrogating employees about the letter, denigrating individuals involved, and threatening others with termination for similar behavior. According to Reuters, SpaceX has yet to respond to these allegations. SpaceX can now choose to settle. If it does not settle, the lawsuit will be heard by an administrative court on March 5, with the hearing scheduled.
If the NLRB determines that the job terminations violated labor law, it has the authority to order the reinstatement of the fired employees as well as back compensation. Furthermore, if the rocket and satellite manufacturer is found to be in violation, it may face harsher fines in future proceedings before the board. Deborah Lawrence, one of the fired employees, described SpaceX as having a “toxic culture,” particularly toward women. She emphasized that they wrote the open letter “to leadership not out of malice, but because we cared about the mission and the people around us.”