SpaceX sued by engineers fired after accusing Elon Musk of sexism

:Rocket maker SpaceX and its CEO Elon Musk were sued on Wednesday by eight engineers who direct they were illegally fired for raising concerns about alleged sexual harassment and discrimination against girls.

The engineers – four girls and four males – claim Musk ordered their firing in 2022 after they circulated a letter calling the billionaire a “distraction and embarrassment” and urging executives to disavow sexually charged feedback he had made on social media. The lawsuit became filed in articulate court docket in Los Angeles.

The plaintiffs cited a series of tweets by Musk, several of which reference his penis, at the side of one from 2022 telling the outdated favorite CEO of YouTube “within the occasion you touch my wiener, you’ll be in a location to occupy a horse.”

The lawsuit says Musk’s conduct fostered a “pervasively sexist culture” at SpaceX where feminine engineers were robotically subjected to harassment and sexist feedback and their concerns about office culture were now no longer renowned. Senior engineers, as an instance, broken-down euphemisms for sexual acts and male genitals to issue rocket parts, in line with the lawsuit.

“These actions … had the foreseeable and real outcomes of offending, causing damage, and intruding upon Plaintiffs’ properly-being in focus on in confidence to disrupt their emotional tranquility within the office,” the plaintiffs mentioned within the lawsuit.

SpaceX did now no longer straight away retort to a ask for comment.

SpaceX has denied wrongdoing, announcing the 2022 letter became disruptive and the staff were properly fired for violating company policies. The company has also denied that Musk became desirous referring to the choice to fire the engineers.

Paige Holland-Thielen, one among the plaintiffs, mentioned in a observation provided by her attorneys that Wednesday’s lawsuit is an strive to maintain SpaceX management responsible and spur changes in office policies.

“We hope that this lawsuit encourages our colleagues to cease real and to maintain fighting for a wiser office,” she mentioned.

The eight engineers are already the purpose of curiosity of a U.S. National Labor Household Board case claiming that their firings violated their rights below U.S. labor laws to recommend for better working circumstances.

SpaceX filed a lawsuit claiming that the labor board’s in-dwelling enforcement court docket cases violate the U.S. Structure. A U.S. appeals court docket closing month paused the NLRB case while it considers SpaceX’s focus on in confidence to dam it from transferring forward pending the pause outcomes of the corporate’s lawsuit.

Wednesday’s lawsuit accuses SpaceX and Musk of retaliation and wrongful termination in violation of California laws, and extra accuses the corporate of sexual harassment and sex discrimination.

The plaintiffs are on the lookout for unspecified compensatory and punitive damages and an convey barring SpaceX from persevering with to interact in its allegedly unlawful conduct.