Despite its attempts to hush up the matter, SpaceX is under investigation over allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination within the company co-founded by Elon Musk. A hearing is scheduled for March.
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A California government agency, the CRD, notified the aerospace company in January of seven complaints filed several months earlier by former employees. The information published by Bloomberg on Tuesday was confirmed by the plaintiffs' lawyers.
In these complaints, consulted by AFP, the engineers describe a sexist corporate culture in which comments of a sexual nature and other forms of harassment are tolerated, in which women are paid less than men for equal work and are less likely to be promoted.
They speak of reprisals against those who tried to protest, up to and including dismissal in their case after they circulated an open letter on social networks criticizing Elon Musk's behavior. They find that his humor, which is often inappropriate online, is mimicked internally.
“The harassment was visual in that boss Elon Musk made obscene and demeaning public statements against women, transgender people, and others on his Twitter account (which has since been renamed in her complaint to Paige Holland-Thielen, one of the engineers behind the letter). made homosexuals.
She also explains that she had to regularly read the billionaire's Twitter account (who bought the social network at the end of 2022) because he regularly publishes information about SpaceX there.
She goes on to say that she received a performance review that deemed her “too emotional” and asked her to “be more humble” after she raised concerns with her boss about a male colleague taking credit for his work.
In January, SpaceX filed a complaint against the US labor regulator (NLRB) to prevent former employees from being heard. The company claims that the actions of this federal agency are unconstitutional and that the hearing process violates the group's right to a jury trial.
An NLRB hearing for the plaintiffs is expected to take place in early March.
Tesla, another Elon Musk flagship, has been accused of racism and sexual harassment on its California website.
“After receiving hundreds of complaints from workers, we found evidence of racial segregation at the Fremont factory,” Kevin Kish, director of the CRD, said in February 2022.