SpaceX accused of unlawfully firing employees who were critical of Elon Musk
Associated Press
Fri, January 5, 2024
Fri, January 5, 2024
A US labour agency has accused SpaceX of unlawfully firing employees who penned an open letter critical of CEO Elon Musk and creating an impression that worker activities were under surveillance by the rocket ship company.
A Los Angeles-based regional director for the US National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday filed a complaint that consolidates eight unfair labor practice charges against SpaceX.
The cases stem from the company's alleged actions following the circulation of the employees' letter back in June 2022.
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The letter, among other workplace concerns, called on executives to condemn Musk’s public behavior on X - the platform then-known as Twitter - and hold everyone accountable for unacceptable conduct.
Musk's actions included making light of sexual harassment allegations against him, which the billionaire denied.
"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," the open letter said at the time.
The letter also referred to Musk's actions as a "frequent source of distraction and embarrassment".
9 employees fired
A total of nine employees were soon terminated for their involvement in the letter, according to a November 2022 filing made on behalf of one of the employees to the NLRB, although only eight are included in Wednesday's complaint.
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.
In addition to the firings, the complaint accuses SpaceX of interrogating other workers about the letter, announcing that employees were terminated for their participation in the letter and "inviting employees to quit if they disagreed with the behaviour of Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk".
The complaint also alleges that some were shown screenshots of communications between employees about the letter, which "created an impression among [SpaceX's] employees that their protected concerted activities were under surveillance".
Reacting to the board's complaint, SpaceX sued the NLRB Thursday in federal court. The lawsuit says the NRLB is "unconstitutionally structured" and its action against the company "unlawful".
Addressing the board's complaint in its lawsuit, SpaceX lawyers say the employees' letter caused "significant distraction to SpaceX employees across the country".
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It said the employees involved in the letter were fired for violating a number of company policies.
Space X did not immediately respond to The Associated Press' requests for comment on Thursday.
The Hawthorne, California, company has until mid-January to respond to the complaint, according to Wednesday's filing. The complaint marks the NLRB's first step towards litigating these allegations and seeking a settlement.
If a settlement isn't reached, a hearing is scheduled to begin on March 5 in Los Angeles.
SpaceX sues to stop US hearing over fired workers
AFP
Thu, January 4, 2024
SpaceX employees fired after trying to get co-workers to sign an open letter critical of chief executive Elon Musk's social media behavior have gone to the US National Labor Relations Board with their complaint (Michael M. Santiago)
SpaceX on Thursday went to court to try to derail a US National Labor Relations Board hearing over complaints by workers who say they were fired for criticizing chief executive Elon Musk.
SpaceX argued that the structure of the regulatory board is unconstitutional and the hearing process violates the company's right to a jury trial, according to a copy of the complaint filed in a federal court in Texas.
The filing did not refute the notion that former workers whose complaints are at issue in the case were fired for asking colleagues to sign a letter critical of Musk's social media behavior.
"The Open Letter demanded that SpaceX take certain actions addressing perceived shortcomings" and linked to a survey, the filing contended.
A small group of SpaceX employees used the company's internal communication platform to send the open letter to thousands of colleagues in June of 2022, according to the complaint.
In the letter, SpaceX employees called on leadership at the company to address what they considered disparaging and inappropriate comments by Musk on what was then Twitter, since renamed X, according to US media.
Employees who were subsequently fired complained to the NLRB, accusing SpaceX of violating labor law.
Eight complaints deemed to have merit were consolidated by the NLRB this week. An administrative hearing is set for March 5.
SpaceX called on a federal court in Texas to stop the hearing from taking place and declare that the NLRB structure violates the Constitution.
gc/acb
SpaceX Files Long-Shot Lawsuit Claiming NLRB is Unconstitutional Entity
Alex Nguyen
Thu, January 4, 2024
Joe Burbank/Getty
Just a day after the National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against SpaceX over what it alleges was the unlawful firing of eight workers who penned a 2022 open letter that condemned CEO Elon Musk for making light of allegations that he exposed himself and sexually propositioned an employee, the company countered on Thursday with a lawsuit of their own. It claimed that the National Labor Relations Board’s structure violates the “separation of powers” under the U.S. Constitution. “The NLRB proceedings against SpaceX deprive it of its constitutional right to trial by jury,” the latest lawsuit reads, according to Bloomberg. The company claimed the open letter “caused significant distraction to SpaceX employees around the country” and that it justifiably terminated workers “for violating numerous company policies.” According to Bloomberg, NLRB lawsuits are sent to judges within the federal government agency, and, if appealed, the cases go to federal court. SpaceX asserted that because these agency judges have no presidential oversight, the lawsuit against them should be blocked. The NLRB has set a trial for the fired SpaceX workers case for March 2024.
Musk's SpaceX seeks to blow up federal labor enforcer
Nick Niedzwiadek and Olivia Olander
Thu, January 4, 2024
Lawyers for Elon Musk’s SpaceX alleged in a lawsuit Thursday that the National Labor Relations Board’s in-house courts are unconstitutional and the agency should be prohibited from taking enforcement actions against it.
The company has been embroiled in employment-related complaints with the NLRB and other federal agencies. If successful, the suit would immediately throw the NLRB’s authority to police the workplace into chaos and create a thorny political issue in an area that for decades has divided Congress.
The complaint, filed in the southern district of Texas, relies heavily on a case currently pending before the Supreme Court, Jarkesy v. SEC. The plaintiff in that case alleges agency tribunals infringe on the constitutional right to a jury trial in civil cases and if administrative law judges — as utilized by the NLRB and many other federal agencies — violate the constitution's separation of powers.
SpaceX also takes issue with the NLRB's five-member board itself, arguing that its members are too difficult for a president to remove despite the “substantial executive power” extended to them to carry out the National Labor Relations Act.
“The NLRB’s current way of functioning is miles away from the traditional understanding of the separation of powers,” the filing states.
Citing a Federalist Paper written by James Madison, it compares the NLRB’s structure to “the very definition of tyranny.”
The filing comes on the heels of NLRB prosecutors issuing a complaint against the company accusing it of illegally firing eight employees who had circulated a letter in 2022 criticizing Musk, its combative CEO. The letter criticized him "for issuing inappropriate, disparaging, sexually charged comments on Twitter,” their lawyers told the NLRB. (Musk also owns the social media platform and rebranded it as X.)
SpaceX is seeking an injunction against the NLRB barring it from moving forward with that case against the company while the constitutional concerns are litigated.
“If the current Members of the NLRB are asked to make a prosecutorial determination about whether SpaceX is in violation of the NLRA, there is an objectively high risk that they would not later be able to provide the neutral adjudicative forum that the Constitution demands, and so would need to recuse from further participation in any agency adjudication against SpaceX,” the company’s attorneys write.
SpaceX sues agency over illegal firings allegation
Reuters Videos
Updated Thu, January 4, 2024
TRANSCRIPT
STORY: Elon Musk’s rocket firm SpaceX is suing a U.S. agency that accused it of illegally firing employees.
The National Labor Relations Board says the company broke the law when it dismissed eight workers in 2022.
That was after they signed a letter accusing Musk of making sexist comments that went against corporate policies.
The case is due to be heard by a judge and a five-member board appointed by U.S. President Joe Biden.
But on Thursday (January 4), SpaceX filed a suit against the agency in a Texas federal court.
It argues that the complaint by the NLRB violates the U.S. Constitution with regards to how judges and board members are appointed.
The firm recently used a similar tactic to block a case brought by the Department of Justice.
That alleged that the company illegally refused to hire refugees and asylum recipients.
A federal judge in Texas subsequently put the DoJ’s case on hold.
The NLRB already faces a similar suit brought by a Starbucks employee in New York who opposes unionization of workers at her store.
She sued the board after it denied her bid to seek a vote on dissolving the union
Alex Nguyen
Thu, January 4, 2024
Joe Burbank/Getty
Just a day after the National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against SpaceX over what it alleges was the unlawful firing of eight workers who penned a 2022 open letter that condemned CEO Elon Musk for making light of allegations that he exposed himself and sexually propositioned an employee, the company countered on Thursday with a lawsuit of their own. It claimed that the National Labor Relations Board’s structure violates the “separation of powers” under the U.S. Constitution. “The NLRB proceedings against SpaceX deprive it of its constitutional right to trial by jury,” the latest lawsuit reads, according to Bloomberg. The company claimed the open letter “caused significant distraction to SpaceX employees around the country” and that it justifiably terminated workers “for violating numerous company policies.” According to Bloomberg, NLRB lawsuits are sent to judges within the federal government agency, and, if appealed, the cases go to federal court. SpaceX asserted that because these agency judges have no presidential oversight, the lawsuit against them should be blocked. The NLRB has set a trial for the fired SpaceX workers case for March 2024.
Musk's SpaceX seeks to blow up federal labor enforcer
Nick Niedzwiadek and Olivia Olander
Thu, January 4, 2024
Lawyers for Elon Musk’s SpaceX alleged in a lawsuit Thursday that the National Labor Relations Board’s in-house courts are unconstitutional and the agency should be prohibited from taking enforcement actions against it.
The company has been embroiled in employment-related complaints with the NLRB and other federal agencies. If successful, the suit would immediately throw the NLRB’s authority to police the workplace into chaos and create a thorny political issue in an area that for decades has divided Congress.
The complaint, filed in the southern district of Texas, relies heavily on a case currently pending before the Supreme Court, Jarkesy v. SEC. The plaintiff in that case alleges agency tribunals infringe on the constitutional right to a jury trial in civil cases and if administrative law judges — as utilized by the NLRB and many other federal agencies — violate the constitution's separation of powers.
SpaceX also takes issue with the NLRB's five-member board itself, arguing that its members are too difficult for a president to remove despite the “substantial executive power” extended to them to carry out the National Labor Relations Act.
“The NLRB’s current way of functioning is miles away from the traditional understanding of the separation of powers,” the filing states.
Citing a Federalist Paper written by James Madison, it compares the NLRB’s structure to “the very definition of tyranny.”
The filing comes on the heels of NLRB prosecutors issuing a complaint against the company accusing it of illegally firing eight employees who had circulated a letter in 2022 criticizing Musk, its combative CEO. The letter criticized him "for issuing inappropriate, disparaging, sexually charged comments on Twitter,” their lawyers told the NLRB. (Musk also owns the social media platform and rebranded it as X.)
SpaceX is seeking an injunction against the NLRB barring it from moving forward with that case against the company while the constitutional concerns are litigated.
“If the current Members of the NLRB are asked to make a prosecutorial determination about whether SpaceX is in violation of the NLRA, there is an objectively high risk that they would not later be able to provide the neutral adjudicative forum that the Constitution demands, and so would need to recuse from further participation in any agency adjudication against SpaceX,” the company’s attorneys write.
SpaceX sues agency over illegal firings allegation
Reuters Videos
Updated Thu, January 4, 2024
TRANSCRIPT
STORY: Elon Musk’s rocket firm SpaceX is suing a U.S. agency that accused it of illegally firing employees.
The National Labor Relations Board says the company broke the law when it dismissed eight workers in 2022.
That was after they signed a letter accusing Musk of making sexist comments that went against corporate policies.
The case is due to be heard by a judge and a five-member board appointed by U.S. President Joe Biden.
But on Thursday (January 4), SpaceX filed a suit against the agency in a Texas federal court.
It argues that the complaint by the NLRB violates the U.S. Constitution with regards to how judges and board members are appointed.
The firm recently used a similar tactic to block a case brought by the Department of Justice.
That alleged that the company illegally refused to hire refugees and asylum recipients.
A federal judge in Texas subsequently put the DoJ’s case on hold.
The NLRB already faces a similar suit brought by a Starbucks employee in New York who opposes unionization of workers at her store.
She sued the board after it denied her bid to seek a vote on dissolving the union
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