SpaceX Inc. is on fire after a federal agency accused the space exploration company of illegally firing an employee who sent a letter to company executives criticizing CEO Elon Musk and his alleged sexist comments. They started a “campaign” to defend themselves against the National Labor Relations Board.
U.S. Labor Relations Board Judge Sharon Steckler began a multi-day hearing via Zoom from Los Angeles on Tuesday, more than a year after the NLRB first filed suit against SpaceX.
In response to the agency’s complaint, SpaceX filed a countersuit in January in federal court in Texas, blocking the case from proceeding and condemning the NLRB’s regime as unconstitutional.
said Matthew Boddy, a labor law professor at the University of Minnesota and former field attorney for the NLRB. luck SpaceX’s retaliation over the NLRB’s claims “looks almost like a holy war rather than a rational economic response to litigation,” he said.
“This seems to be much more of an ideological argument than how most employers would handle it,” Boddy added.
Reuters
A judge transferred the case to California last month, but the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday rejected the company’s challenge to that ruling.
SpaceX attorney and former labor board member Harry Johnson said during a 20-minute hearing before the NLRB on Tuesday that the company is considering its options regarding the 5th Circuit’s decision.
That could include asking the appellate court to reconsider the decision, he said.
The brief hearing was procedural and focused on the board’s and SpaceX’s challenges to subpoenas issued by both parties.
Judge Steckler did not hear testimony or opening statements, and it was not immediately clear when those proceedings would begin.
The hearings are expected to last until May, and Musk is unlikely to be called to testify at the hearings, according to Fortune.
Still, the head of the $180 billion private space company is at the forefront of the backlash against the NLRB. The backlash began after the group’s general counsel, who acts as a prosecutor, claimed that SpaceX violated U.S. labor laws by expelling eight engineers who distributed an “open letter.” . ” dated back to 2022, calling Musk “distracting and embarrassing” and claiming the company condones discrimination against women.
It’s unclear what arguments SpaceX plans to make once the hearings begin in earnest.
Boddy told Fortune that the employer will likely justify that the employee in question was fired for other reasons, such as poor performance.
According to Fortune, Mr. Bodie may also claim that SpaceX employees have complained about Mr. Musk’s behavior on the social media site X, then known as Twitter. The site was not protected because it was not work-related.
“I think there’s at least an argument there that what they were doing was not about their own terms of employment,” he said.
SpaceX was accused of violating the National Labor Relations Act, which protects workers’ right to organize and demand better working conditions.
If SpaceX loses, it could be ordered to reinstate the employees and compensate them for lost wages and benefits.
At that point, the company could appeal Steckler’s decision to the five-member NLRB board (currently one vacant) and then to the federal appellate court.
Representatives for SpaceX and the NLRB did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
The engineers filed separate complaints with the California civil rights agency, accusing SpaceX of condoning gender discrimination and retaliating against workers who complained.
Comes with post wire.
