SpaceX has fired employees who helped write and distribute an open letter criticizing Elon Musk, The New York Times reported. First unveiled yesterday, the letter called Musk’s social media behavior “a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment” and asked SpaceX to condemn his actions.
According to three unnamed employees and an email from SpaceX president and COO Gwynne Shotwell, seen by the NYT, SpaceX fired some organizers from the letter, but there’s no indication of how many have been fired.
†[SpaceX has] terminated a number of engaged employees,” she captioned the letter. “The letter, requests, and the general process made employees feel uncomfortable, intimidated, and bullied, and/or angry because the letter pressured them to sign something that was not their opinion reflected. We have too much critical work to do and this kind of exaggerated activism is unnecessary.”
The employees’ open letter referred to recent allegations of sexual misconduct involving Musk, which reportedly led to a $250,000 settlement. Musk said the allegations were “completely false” and made a crude joke about some of the details on Twitter. SpaceX defended Musk, with Shotwell saying she “personally” believed the allegations were false.
Another topic in the letter was distraction from Musk’s Twitter use. In February, the SEC opened an investigation into Musk over possible insider trading, and a court recently ruled that Tesla corporate lawyers must continue to approve his tweets. (Earlier this week, Musk appealed that decision). Prior to the letter, Musk allegedly told SpaceX employees to be in the office at least 40 hours a week or they risk being fired.
In its email, Shotwell added that “it is unacceptable to cover thousands of people across the company with repeated unsolicited emails asking them to sign letters and complete unsponsored surveys during the workday. Stay focused on the SpaceX mission and use your time to do your best work. That’s how we get to Mars.”
Employees are protected from retaliation by OSHA’s whistleblowing rules, but they generally apply to things like safety, fraud, environmental issues, and health insurance. Still, the layoffs are likely to spark another round of controversy involving Musk.
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