The US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against SpaceX after alleging that the company has been denying refugees and asylees jobs at SpaceX from 2018 to 2022.
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SpaceX Alleged Hiring Process
In 2020, the DOJ started receiving complaints of employee discrimination from SpaceX. After investigation, SpaceX was found guilty of not hiring asylees and refugees because of their citizenship status. Moreover, their qualifications were overlooked after SpaceX noted their citizenship status.
In addition, the investigation found that "SpaceX recruiters and high-level officials took actions that actively discouraged" people from seeking work in the company. The suit identified that the process happened between 2018 and 2022.
The Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) opened the proved last 2020 after a claimant testified that he lose a spot during a SpaceX interview after disclosing his citizenship status. Since then, it seemed that other victims have come forward to share their piece of hiring experience at SpaceX.
DOJ Seeks Damages from SpaceX
Currently, DOJ is asking SpaceX to pay damages and back pay for the affected asylees and refugees. In addition, the department is also calling for civil penalties and policy changes on hiring employees.
As a response, SpaceX owner Elon Musk posted on X that the company was repeatedly told that "hiring anyone who was not a permanent resident of the United States would violate international arms trafficking law, which would be a criminal offence."
This is not the first time that a Musk-owned company is hit with legal action. Musk have been receiving legal battles from X and Tesla. As of writing there are no update as to how SpaceX will proceed with the current lawsuit.
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