Eight former engineers accuse CEO Elon Musk of overseeing a “pervasive sexist culture” at the rocket company.
Eight former SpaceX engineers have filed a lawsuit accusing the rocket company and its CEO, Elon Musk, of firing them for raising concerns about the treatment of female employees.
In a lawsuit filed in California on Wednesday, the former employees alleged that Musk personally ordered their firing after they circulated a letter within SpaceX raising concerns about the billionaire's sexually charged comments on social media.
The lawsuit accuses Musk of overseeing a “pervasive sexist culture” and a “'animal house' environment,” in which women are evaluated based on their bra size and bombarded with sexual jokes.
The lawsuit references several comments by Musk on his social platform X, including a post telling former YouTube CEO Chad Hurley, “If you touch my sausage, you can have a horse.”
“SpaceX management knowingly enabled and encouraged a work environment rife with sexual harassment,” Anne B Shaver, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement.
“Being fired for protesting SpaceX's complete failure to take basic steps to prevent sexual harassment is clearly retaliatory, wrong, and actionable.”
Paige Holland-Thielen, one of the plaintiffs, said in a statement released by her attorneys that the lawsuit was an “important milestone in our pursuit of justice.”
“We hope this lawsuit encourages our colleagues to stay strong and continue fighting for a better workplace,” he said.
The former employees are seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages and an order prohibiting SpaceX from continuing to engage in illegal conduct.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The former employees previously filed a case with the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) accusing the company of violating US labor law.
Last month, the NLRB told a federal judge in a Texas court that it would stay its case against SpaceX to speed up a final ruling in a lawsuit by the company that claims the agency's structure and procedures violate the U.S. Constitution. USA.
