Elon Musk's SpaceX sues US Labour Board over employee termination claims
Elon Musk is known to grab headlines, and this time his company is in the spotlight for suing a US labour board. The legal action comes after the rocket and satellite manufacturer was accused of wrongfully terminating employees for sending letters to top executives, criticising Musk as "a distraction and embarrassment."
The National Labour Relations Board (NLRB) lodged a complaint against SpaceX last Wednesday. According to CNBC's report, SpaceX filed a lawsuit in a Texas federal court in Brownsville, alleging that the NLRB's structure violates the US Constitution.
The NLRB's complaint revolves around SpaceX's alleged violation of federal labour law by terminating eight workers in 2022. These employees had signed a letter accusing Musk of making sexist remarks against the company's policies.
As reported by Reuters, the June 2022 letter addressed to company executives referenced a series of tweets by the SpaceX CEO since 2020, characterised as sexually suggestive.
In the letter, the employees asserted that Elon Musk's statements contradicted SpaceX's diversity policies and standards for workplace behaviour, urging the company to denounce them.
The case is set for a hearing by an administrative judge, followed by review by a five-member board appointed by the US president. However, decisions made by the board can be appealed in federal court.
SpaceX contends that the structure of the National Labour Relations Board, which allows removal of members only for cause rather than at will, is unconstitutional, aiming to halt the NLRB case.
Previously, Musk's company used a similar strategy to halt a case by the US Department of Justice, alleging SpaceX's illegal refusal to hire refugees and asylum seekers.
In a separate instance in November last year, a federal judge in Brownsville temporarily halted an administrative case, citing that administrative judges at the US Department of Justice must be appointed by the president, not the attorney general, per the US Constitution.
Aside from SpaceX's lawsuit, the NLRB faces another case involving a Starbucks Corp employee opposing the unionisation of her New York workplace. The female worker sued the NLRB in October last year after her request for an election to dissolve the union was denied.