A former SpaceX employee claimed her manager forced her into an affair and offered her money for an abortion when she became pregnant with his child.
A lawsuit filed Tuesday said that any hope the plaintiff, Michelle Dopak, had for a promotion depended on her sexually satisfying her manager, Anthony Brooks.
Dopak allegedly gave in to his advances because he feared his career at SpaceX in Los Angeles would end if he didn’t comply.
But Brooks’ behavior became increasingly coercive when he showed up at Dopak’s house and demanded that she have sex with him and sent him text messages asking her to “f*** him off,” according to the lawsuit.
When Dopak became pregnant with Brooks’ child, she allegedly tried to bribe her with $100,000 to get an abortion.
A SpaceX employee claims she was forced to have an affair with her manager, who tried to bribe her with $100,000 to get an abortion when she became pregnant with his child.
Michelle Dopak started working at SpaceX in 2017 and reportedly tried her best to get a promotion, but claimed Brooks passed her over in favor of hiring male employees, claiming she received sexist treatment and was paid less. than her male co-workers.
In June 2019, Dopak said she and the team traveled to the SpaceX workplace in Vandenberg, California, to watch a rocket launch and accused Brooks of sexually assaulting her during the trip.
He lawsuit She claimed that Brooks insisted on driving alone with Dopak, and when she stopped to load her car, he ‘grabbed (Dopak) around the waist, pulled her against his body and kissed her without her permission.’
Brooks then allegedly insisted that she return to the office with Dopak, but forced her to take a detour through Santa Barbara and, while driving, told her that he was married but was “sexually frustrated and dissatisfied with his marriage.”
Two weeks after that conversation, Brooks allegedly called Dopak and told her he was coming to her house to have sex, and he allegedly “forced her to have unprotected sex with him, despite (Dopak’s) objections.”
The lawsuit claimed that Brooks sent him sexually explicit text messages and made clear that he was protected from any harassment claims at SpaceX because the company’s vice president, Andy Lambert, recruited him.
She added that Brooks allegedly “manipulated” and “forced” Dopak to have unprotected sex once or twice a week and sent her sexual text messages that included “I’d like to bend you over the desk and c**k deep inside you.” . …’, ‘Thinking about you always makes me horny’ and ‘I could fuck you on my desk’.
Less than two months after the alleged affair with Brooks began, Dopak said she was offered her promotion, which took effect retroactively on June 23, shortly after the alleged harassment began.
“The message and date did not go unnoticed by Plaintiff, as Brooks was clearly sending a message to Plaintiff that the position was only received because she submitted to it,” the lawsuit says.
He continued, “She felt like her career was in his hands, so if she didn’t continue to submit to him, her dream career would end up at SpaceX.”
The affair reportedly continued until August 2020, when Dopak told Brooks she was pregnant with his baby, but claimed he “verbally berated” her and allegedly demanded she abort the child.
Elon Musk is the CEO of SpaceX and his company has previously been accused of discriminating against women
The lawsuit claimed that Brooks attempted to bribe Dopak with $100,000 to get an abortion, which she refused, but told him she would not tell anyone about the bribe and would continue to keep the matter secret.
According to the lawsuit, when Dopak finally informed Brooks’ wife, Helen, about the pregnancy and the affair, Helen allegedly retaliated by sending messages containing details of the affair to SpaceX staff and management.
Dopak claimed that SpaceX conspired with Brooks to transfer 48,289 shares of his company, worth approximately $3.7 million, so he could “fraudulently avoid paying (Dopak) any child support.”
Even after Brooks left SpaceX in 2022, Dopak took a leave of absence during the second half of 2022 to deal with the emotional toll of the events.
But upon his return, the lawsuit says Kopak received a lower individual performance score in his annual review by his new supervisor Christopher Wang, who is also a defendant in the lawsuit.
Wang reportedly told him that the reason he received a lower performance score was because he needed to “(m)inimize(e) the impact of personal matters on his professional work.”
‘Many times she was very distracted by personal issues that affected her performance and ability to work; She should communicate more clearly when matters are too distressing and choose to take time off.’
Dopak accuses SpaceX, Brooks, Wang and other managers of violating California’s FEHA law on separate charges of harassment, discrimination, retaliation, failure to prevent discrimination, harassment and retaliation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress and retaliation. in violation of the California labor code.
It also includes charges of whistleblower retaliation, violation of the California Equal Pay Act, violation of the California Confidentiality of Health Information Act, and unlawful business practices.
The lawsuit does not list a specific amount of money, but says Dopak is seeking compensation for lost wages, damages for mental pain, anguish and emotional distress, and is seeking damages “to punish the defendants” for the alleged wrongful conduct and ‘to deter such conduct in the future.’
Dailymail.com has contacted lawyers for SpaceX and Dopak for comment.
SpaceX also faces other class-action lawsuits over alleged pay and promotion inequality against women and minors, and was sued by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in January for firing employees who wrote a letter criticizing CEO Elon Musk. .
The company denied any wrongdoing and sued the NLRB, claiming its lawsuit was unconstitutional.