John Paul M. Joaquin Tech 11.18.2022 02:Nov AM EST

SpaceX Allegedly Fires Open Letter Authors for Criticizing Elon Musk

It seems SpaceX is being sued yet again.

A handful of former employees from Elon Musk's space company have recently sued it for unfair labor practices with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), allegedly terminating their employment due to their criticisms of Musk.

The employees' termination is connected to the open letter that surfaced in mid-June, which called Musk's behavior a "source of distraction and embarrassment."

SpaceX Former Employee Grievances

According to a statement from Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, eight employees have pressed charges against SpaceX for allegedly terminating their employment with the company as a result of the open letter they authored to criticize Musk's behavior and his posts on Twitter.

Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein is one of the law firms representing the eight SpaceX employees.

You may remember that an open letter from a handful of SpaceX employees was posted in SpaceX's Microsoft Teams channel on June 17, with it calling for Musk to change his ways.

The letter mentioned that Elon's behavior in the public sphere is a "frequent source of distraction and embarrassment" for them and that Musk's tweets, which could be considered as "de facto public statement[s] by the company," do not reflect SpaceX's work, mission, and values.

Interestingly, the open letter comes with a set of recommendations that SpaceX's leader can do to address the situation. These include the denouncement of Musk's behavior, the condemnation of other senior company leaders for similar conduct, and the clarification of SpaceX's "No Asshole" and "Zero Tolerance" policies and their consistent enforcement.

Paige Holland-Thielen, one of the former SpaceX employees that filed the lawsuit, argued that they were carrying out a "concerted protected activity," per Gizmodo. As such, SpaceX violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) when it fired them in retaliation against their criticism of Musk.

They also added that SpaceX didn't stop searching for employees that were involved in the open letter even after firing the eight of them in June.

Furthermore, Holland-Thielen said that they drafted the letter to inform SpaceX's executive staff on their terms and show how their lack of action on the matter created "tangible barriers" to the long success of SpaceX's mission.

Tom Moline, another author of the open letter, is also of the same mind. They mentioned that they wrote the open letter to bring the issues they added to the forefront to begin the work of creating a culture worthy of SpaceX's goals.

"I hope this NLRA claim will demonstrate that no one is above the law, and empower SpaceXers to continue to speak up and fight for a better, more equitable workplace," Moline added.

SpaceX's Side of The Coin

Jon Edwards, SpaceX's vice president of Falcon Launch Vehicles, allegedly reportedly said in a meeting that what Holland-Thielen, Moline, and their co-authors did was an "extremist act," per the New York Times' sources.

He argued that they were fired for distracting the company and challenging Musk's authority, adding, "SpaceX is Elon, and Elon is SpaceX."

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell also called the letter a distraction in an email, saying that the company doesn't need this kind of overreaching activism, per CBS News.

Shotwell also said that the open letter made employees feel uncomfortable, intimidated, bullied, and/or angry because it pressured them to sign something that didn't reflect their views.