The California-based workers, who were fired in 2022 after circulating an open letter critical of Musk’s behavior, argue that the aerospace company’s actions violated the state’s Fair Employment and Housing Act. The law bans sex-based discrimination and retaliation against employees who raise concerns in the workplace. Their claims were detailed in filings with the California Civil Rights Department that were sent to SpaceX last month.
The filings open up a new front in a contentious legal battle between SpaceX and the workers. In November 2022, the ex-employees also brought complaints about the company to the US National Labor Relations Board, saying SpaceX violated federal labor law by firing them. Last month, the NLRB’s prosecutors agreed, accusing SpaceX of illegally retaliating against the workers. In response, the Musk-led company sued the agency.
SpaceX said in its suit the NLRB accusations are likely to harm the company’s reputation and its ability to recruit new employees. If the company loses, it might also have to reinstate the workers with backpay. The employees were all engineers, according to their lawyer Laurie Burgess. Now, because of the new complaints in California, SpaceX faces the threat of losing to the ex-workers at the state level, too. The California CRD can seek compensatory and punitive damages.
“You get a horse! You get a horse! Everybody gets a horse!”
That’s how Elon deals with these things, right?
