Elon Musk told HR: “I don’t care — fire them,” claims lawsuit filed by former SpaceX employees alleging sexual harassment

There may be some trouble for SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Eight former SpaceX engineers have reportedly filed a lawsuit against Musk on Wednesday (June 12), accusing the CEO of sexual harassment and retaliation. The same group of fired employees are said to have also filed complaints with the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) about SpaceX’s alleged retaliation.Bloomberg first reported on the lawsuit. The eight employees reportedly include four women and four men. The complaint targets both Musk and SpaceX.

What the lawsuit against Elon Musk claims

“Musk knowingly and purposefully created an unwelcome hostile work environment based upon his conduct of interjecting into the workplace vile sexual photographs, memes, and commentary that demeaned women and/or the LGBTQ+ community,” the eight former employees wrote in the filing. “It was also common for engineers to apply crude and demeaning names to products in an attempt at humor, often at the expense of women and LGBTQ+ individuals. For example, the name ‘Upskirt Camera’ was used for a camera on the first stage of the Falcon rocket that views the bottom of the second stage,” the filing further adds.
According to a Bloomberg report, the filing further claims that the former SpaceX engineers that Musk made the decision to fire them in retaliation for the open letter that they wrote in 2022, highlighting Musk’s “problematic behavior”. The complaint claims that when a SpaceX HR official suggested that the company conduct a formal investigation before taking any decisive action, Musk replied, “I don’t care — fire them.”

What the open letter against Elon Musk said

The open letter against Elon Musk is said to have been shared in an internal SpaceX Microsoft Teams channel with more than 2,600 employees. “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. It is critical to make clear to our teams and to our potential talent pool that his messaging does not reflect our work, our mission, or our values,” it further added.

SpaceX and Elon Musk on the lawsuit

SpaceX and Elon Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit. SpaceX has previously denied wrongdoing and said that the fired employees violated policies. It also said Musk was not involved in their terminations.

Lawsuit comes a day after WSJ’s report claiming ‘sexual misconduct’

The lawsuit comes just a day after the Wall Street Journal reported allegations that Musk made sexual advances to women at SpaceX, including a former intern he had sex with. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell was quoted in the story accusing the Journal of presenting “untruths, mischaracterizations, and revisionist history,” and saying “Elon is one of the best humans I know.”