Elon Musk is accused of illegally firing SpaceX employees who criticized him.
The story dates back to June 2022. At the time, nine employees produced an open letter, which they circulated internally, and in which they criticized their boss’s behavior on social networks. The response from management was not long in coming, since five of them were dismissed the next day, and the other four during the summer. Today, they are organizing their counterattack.
Several grievances against Elon Musk cited
Eight of the nine employees fired last year will be able to hold Elon Musk accountable through legal action brought by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the American equivalent of the labor inspectorate. As a reminder, they criticized the numerous sexually suggestive tweets posted since 2020 by their now ex-boss, and asked management to condemn this “ harmful behavior. » For them, this one was a “ frequent source of distraction and embarrassment. »
The complaint filed on their behalf by the NLRB explains that their dismissal would be an unlawful practice, because the employees would have “ engaged in protected concerted activity in the workplace. » They add that management carried out an investigation by questioning at least one employee to find out the identity of the people behind the letter, and allegedly showed screenshots of a Signal group where several employees were found, thereby showing that it would watch them.
A trial scheduled for March 5
At the time, President Gwynne Shotwell brushed aside the criticism, explaining that she had “ too much critical work to do », before adding : “ we don’t need this kind of excessive activism. » Still, the American federal labor agency believes it has a strong enough case to go before the judge, with a first hearing scheduled for March 5.
SpaceX also always has the choice to take the route of conciliation, by seeking to find an agreement before going to court. If the company is found guilty, the employees could be reinstated in their former positions, all with corresponding back pay.
Source : Endgaget, Reuters
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