The complaint alleges former workers were terminated for raising concerns about sexual harassment and discrimination against women at the company
SpaceX and CEO Elon Musk were hit with another lawsuit on Wednesday by eight former employees alleging Musk personally ordered their firing after they raised concerns about sexual harassment and discrimination against women at the company.
SpaceX fired the workers in 2022 after they wrote and circulated a letter denouncing the CEO’s behavior following sexual misconduct claims against him. The letter called on leadership at the company to address and enforce its harassment polices in the workplace. “Elon’s behavior in the public sphere is a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment for us, particularly in recent weeks,” the letter stated. “As our CEO and most prominent spokesperson, Elon is seen as the face of SpaceX — every Tweet that Elon sends is a de facto public statement by the company.”
In January, the National Labor Relations Board alleged SpaceX illegally fired the workers. The company responded with its own lawsuit against the NLRB.
In the complaint filed Wednesday, which was shared by Axios, the suit claims that Musk “runs his company in the dark ages — treating women as sexual objects to be evaluated on their bra size, bombarding the workplace with lewd sexual banter, and offering the reprise to those who challenge the ‘Animal House’ environment that if they don’t like it they can seek employment elsewhere.”
SpaceX did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone’s request for comment.
The suit arrives a day after The Wall Street Journal published a story detailing allegations that Musk approached female employees at SpaceX for sex and to have his children. Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s president and chief operating officer, told WSJ that its reporting painted “a completely misleading narrative,” and said “Elon is one of the best humans I know.”
The new lawsuit filed Wednesday accuses SpaceX and Musk of violating federal and state labor law, and accuses Musk of “knowingly and purposefully created an unwelcome hostile work environment” and retaliating against the workers for “opposing the discrimination, harassment, and hostile work environment that they observed and that they were being subjected to.”
The former employees are seeking compensatory and consequential damages for lost wages, earnings, and emotional distress.