SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, won a court injunction preventing the Justice Department’s hiring discrimination lawsuit from moving forward. As previously reported by Reuters. In a decision On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Rolando Olvera ruled that Justice Department administrative judges do not have the authority to review the case.
The Justice Department sued SpaceX in August over allegations that the company refused to hire asylum seekers and refugees. The agency, which has been investigating SpaceX’s hiring practices since 2020, accused SpaceX of discouraging refugees and asylum seekers from applying “by wrongly stating that SpaceX can only hire U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents.”
SpaceX countersued the Department of Justice in response, claiming that the administrative law judges (ALJs) in the case were “unconstitutionally appointed” because they possess authority that only those appointed by the president should have. Judge Olvera sided with SpaceX in his ruling and said the judges do not have the authority to oversee the case. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to The edgeRequest for comments.
SpaceX has denied allegations that it engaged in hiring discrimination. “SpaceX has not engaged in any practice or pattern of discrimination against anyone, including asylees or refugees. To the contrary, SpaceX wants to hire the best candidates for every job, regardless of their citizenship status, and in fact has hired hundreds of non-citizens,” the company argued in its countersuit.
