SpaceX accused of wrongful termination over Musk criticism

SpaceX has been accused of illegally firing eight workers who were publicly critical of CEO Elon Musk.

In a complaint led by the US labor agency, it is revealed that in 2022, workers sent an open letter to company management detailing workplace problems. In the letter, the leading man was described as a "disturbance and disgrace".

The National Labor Relations Board (NRLB) took over the case and accused SpaceX of violating workers' rights under federal labor laws that allow workers to collectively advocate for better working conditions.

All participants in the open letter were questioned about their behavior before their employment was terminated. The legal team of former employee Deborah Lawrence is said to accuse SpaceX of having a "toxic culture" in which even harassment is tolerated. “We did not write the open letter to the management out of malice, howeverč we cared about the people around us," Lawrence wrote.

If SpaceX does not decide to settle, the case will be heard by an administrative law judge, whose decision can be appealed to the board and then to a federal appeals court. The hearing is scheduled for March 5. If the NLRB finds that the dismissal violated labor law, it may order reinstatement and back wages.

Musk and his companies are not the firstč under attack due to violations of workers' rights. Last October, Twitter, or X, faced allegations that it illegally fired an employee for tweets criticizing the company's work-from-home policy. There are also accusations of racial discrimination in Tesla's factories, but Tesla denied the workers' statements and assured that their policy does not allow discrimination in the workplace.