Eight former SpaceX engineers have filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk, alleging they were illegally fired after they raised concerns about alleged sexual harassment and discrimination toward women.
The eight engineers, including four men and four women, argue that Musk personally ordered their firings after they signed an open letter in 2022 calling the billionaire CEO a “distraction and embarrassment” and urging company executives to repudiate comments he made. did on social media. .
They cited a series of tweets Musk made referencing his penis and claim he fostered a “pervasive sexist culture” at the rocket maker where female engineers were subjected to harassment and sexist comments, and their concerns were ignored.
“These actions… had the foreseeable and actual result of offending, causing distress and invading the well-being of the plaintiffs, with the purpose of disturbing their emotional peace in the workplace,” reads the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the California state court in Los Angeles. Angels.
Elon Musk is being sued by eight former SpaceX engineers for wrongful termination
The lawsuit claims that Musk violated state and federal discrimination law and is directly responsible for the culture at SpaceX and the plaintiffs’ firings.
It says the CEO “runs his company in the Middle Ages, treating women as sexual objects who must be evaluated by their bra size, bombarding the workplace with lewd sexual jokes, and offering those who challenge the Animal House environment the reply that, if they do it, If they don’t like it, they can look for work elsewhere.
As a result, senior engineers would feel comfortable using euphemisms for sexual acts and referring to rocket parts as male genitalia, according to the lawsuit, obtained by Daily Mail.
In one case, plaintiff Paige Holland-Thielen described how a high-ranking employee responded to a plotted data graph by making a “sexual allusion to an erect penis” and asking, “How can we pick it up, up, up?”
He said he reported the matter to human resources, but never learned the outcome.
One of the plaintiffs, Paige Holland-Thielen, said she hopes the lawsuit “encourages our colleagues to stay strong and continue fighting for a better workplace.”
Rebekah Clark, another former SpaceX engineer, also claims in the lawsuit that she overheard colleagues making comments about breasts at work after Musk made a sexually charged comment about X.
He said he raised his concerns with company managers at a meeting in 2022 and was told, “SpaceX is Elon and Elon is SpaceX.”
Meanwhile, Claire Mallon said she reported a male colleague to human resources for repeatedly mentioning sexually explicit topics to her and inviting her to a sex party.
But, he said, the company “took no discernible action” and the employee in question was actually promoted.
The plaintiffs claim that Musk fostered an environment at SpaceX in which sexual harassment and assault was widespread.
The eight engineers who filed the lawsuit Wednesday are also at the center of a U.S. National Labor Relations Board case, alleging that their layoffs violated their right to join together and advocate for better working conditions under U.S. labor law.
It claimed that executives “interrogated employees about the letter, belittled workers who were involved, and threatened to fire workers who engaged in similar activities.”
But SpaceX filed a lawsuit against the Labor Relations Board, arguing that its internal enforcement procedures violate the U.S. Constitution, and an appeals court last month paused the board’s case against the company while it considers the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs are now seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, and an order prohibiting SpaceX from continuing the alleged unlawful conduct.
The lawsuit came on the same day that allegations surfaced that Musk personally persecuted some of his subordinates at the company.
In a statement provided by her attorneys, Holland-Thielen said she also hopes the lawsuit “encourages our colleagues to stay strong and continue fighting for a better workplace.”
SpaceX executives, however, denied any wrongdoing and said the workers were appropriately fired for violating company policy.
They also noticed to the Wall Street Journal that the company investigate all complaints of harassment and take appropriate action.
And they denied that Musk was involved in the decision to fire the engineers and described his 2022 open letter as damaging to the workplace.
But the lawsuit came on the same day that allegations were made that Musk personally pursued some of his subordinates, including an intern who was hired shortly after finishing college and a woman he asked to have children.