SpaceX illegally fired workers for letter critical of Elon Musk's posts on X, feds find

A federal labor agency accused the rocket company SpaceX on Wednesday of illegally firing eight employees for authoring a letter calling founder and CEO Elon Musk a "distraction and embarrassment." 

The complaint, issued by a regional office of the National Labor Relations Board, claimed the company violated the workers’ rights by interrogating them about the letter and pressuring them not to distribute it before terminating their employment. Circulated in 2022 and reviewed by The Verge, the letter called on SpaceX to condemn Musk’s social media activity, which often included sexually suggestive posts, while clarifying and consistently enforcing its harassment policies.

In its complaint, the labor agency also accused SpaceX, which has more than 13,000 employees, of disparaging the workers who were involved in the letter and threatening to fire others who engaged in similar activity.

Unless SpaceX agrees to a settlement, the case is scheduled to go before an administrative judge in early March.

“At SpaceX the rockets may be reusable but the people who build them are treated as expendable,” said Paige Holland-Thielen, one of the employees who was fired. “I am hopeful these charges will hold SpaceX and its leadership accountable for their long history of mistreating workers and stifling discourse.”

SpaceX could not immediately be reached for comment.

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Complaint comes after Justice Department lawsuit against SpaceX

Musk has developed a reputation as a leader who often takes a hard stance against his companies’ employees who are critical of his decisions or public behavior.

Twitter, now known as X, has undergone massive cuts to employment ever since Musk bought it and took it over in 2022.

Musk and his companies, which also include Tesla, are also no strangers to lawsuits alleging violations of employees’ rights under federal labor laws.

Most recently in August, the U.S. Department of Justice sued SpaceX, accusing the company of discriminating against refugees and people who have been granted asylum.

The lawsuit claimed that SpaceX discouraged anyone who is not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident from applying for a job. Additionally, the Justice Department, which is seeking back pay for those illegally denied employment, alleged that the company refused to hire refugees and people granted asylum.

Fired employees concerned about sexual harassment, Musk's posts on X

The decision by the National Labor Review Board to pursue a case against SpaceX means its general counsel investigated the former employees’ allegations and found them to have merit.

The law prohibits employers from retaliating against works for exercising protected activity or working together to improve workplace conditions. Companies found to be in violation of the law can be ordered to reinstate those workers, offer back wages and be subject to other penalties.

The letter the group of employees sent to SpaceX executives and colleagues in June 2022 condemned a series of posts on Musk’s X platform that he had made since 2020, including one in which he mocked sexual harassment accusations against him. The letter called Musk’s public comments “a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment for us” and urged SpaceX to distance itself from Musk’s posts, which the employees claimed did not align with the company’s policies on diversity and workplace conduct.

By August, the employees had been fired, which the labor complaint alleges was in retaliation for the letter.

The federal agency also claims employees were unlawfully pulled into interrogation with human resources, which they were told to keep secret from their co-workers and managers. SpaceX is also accused of inviting employees to quit and creating the “impression of surveillance” by reviewing and showing screenshots of employees’ communications on a messaging app. 

“The NLRB has spoken: SpaceX violated our clients’ workplace rights,” said Anne Shaver an attorney who represented the eight former SpaceX employees in filing unfair labor practice charges against the company. ”his kind of flagrant violation of the law cannot be allowed to go unchecked. We look forward to trial.”

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com