Washington, United States

Former SpaceX employees have filed unfair labour practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) which protects employees' rights, alleging that they were fired for taking a stand against owner Elon Musk. 

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The letter was originally drafted in June with the help of former eight employees who were fired. As reported by the New York Times, Elon Musk allegedly paid $250,000 to a flight attendant for settling the accusations made for sexual harassment.

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After the letter was drafted, nearly 20 people met with Jon Edwards, vice president of Falcon vehicles launch, who said that the letter is a distraction to the company and is a pure act of extremism. The employees asked SpaceX to address the issues publicly and condemn Musk for his behaviour. 

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In addition, the June letter also urged SpaceX to reaffirm its commitment to the zero-tolerance policy in case of sexual harassment. 

As per sources, a few of the SpaceX employees have also spoken about the culture of rampant harassment. Ashley Kosak, a former engineer at SpaceX stated that her harassment complaints often went ignored. While another intern stated that she faced unwanted advances by senior male officials at the company. 

Also read | United States: Democratic senators accuse Musk of undermining Twitter

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According to the New York Times, the owner then fired nine employees for standing against him. The SpaceX complaint coincides with the Twitter layoffs. Employees and netizens have been heavily criticising the new CEO for firing such a huge amount of employees. The new Twitter chief also fired the top three officials. Moreover, some employees willingly left the company because of Musk's leadership and behaviour.

The New York Times reported that the Musk has asked managers to remove naysayers. 

This is not the first time Musk's company is facing challenges from the NLRB. In 2021, the NLRB upheld the decision of firing an employee who was attempting to unionise at SpaceX, a practice which has been strongly discouraged by Musk. 

(With inputs from agencies) 

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