SpaceX accused of illegally firing employees who criticized Elon Musk

SpaceX is facing a complaint from the U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) accusing the company of unlawfully firing employees after they wrote an open letter criticizing CEO Elon Musk.

In a complaint filed Wednesday, the NLRB accused SpaceX of questioning employees about their involvement in the letter and telling employees not to discuss the interviews. NLRB spokesperson Kayla Blado said Reuters SpaceX violated workers’ federal rights to collectively fight for better working conditions.

The labor agency claimed that SpaceX “created the impression of surveillance” by reading and displaying screenshots of messages between employees, adding that the company sought to prevent employees from distributing the open letter. SpaceX also allegedly “invited employees to resign and threatened termination” if they participated in organized events.

The NLRB requires SpaceX to issue a 120-day notice of employee rights and wants the company to write a letter of apology to each fired employee, among other things. A hearing before an NLRB Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) is scheduled for March 5, 2024, provided SpaceX does not attempt to resolve the allegations. Whatever the judge decides can be appealed to the board and to the federal appeals court.