SpaceX Fires Employees Involved in Letter Critical of Musk, Company

[andricv]

Source: Wall Street Journal

SpaceX fired several employees involved in a letter that criticized Chief Executive Elon Musk and the way the company applies internal rules, according to an email to staff from SpaceX’s president and people familiar with it.

Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s president, said the company conducted an investigation and decided to terminate a number of employees who participated in the effort, according to the email, a copy of which was viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Her email didn’t say how many people the company let go, and that number couldn’t immediately be determined.

Some employees at the company recently wrote a letter that called Mr. Musk’s public statements and behavior, particularly during the past several weeks, embarrassing and distracting. The letter asked SpaceX management to publicly separate the company from Mr. Musk’s personal brand, and to take steps to address what it said was a gap between SpaceX’s stated values and its current systems and company culture.

Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/spacex-fires-employees-involved-in-letter-critical-of-musk-company-11655471021

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Well well well, Mr. Freedom of Speech. We hardly knew ye.

[VMA131Marine]

1. Well that's certainly not going to improve the work environment at SpaceX

Elon is starting to believe his own press releases about what a stable genius he is. At least he can’t run for President.

[paulkienitz]

13. he's trying to turn himself into an Ayn Rand protagonist

and her essential thesis was that the little people do not matter.

[Miguelito Loveless]

2. Go to love that

"Free Speech" absolutism.

[LudwigPastorius]

3. I hope they contacted the NLRB, and are proceeding to sue the ever livin' fuck out of him.

[ruet]

8. For What?

Not saying I agree with the terminations but; employment in the US is "At-Will".

[druidity33]

11. Yeah, Space-X should probably Unionize...

my contract includes a "manager review" process. Not to mention the fact that employment moves from an "at will" stand to a "just cause" stand... and the Union has lawyers too.

[DBoon]

12. You have rights under the National Lobor Relations act ...

... to discuss working conditions and similar matters.

Employees who are not represented by a union also have rights under the NLRA. Specifically, the National Labor Relations Board protects the rights of employees to engage in “concerted activity”, which is when two or more employees take action for their mutual aid or protection regarding terms and conditions of employment. A single employee may also engage in protected concerted activity if he or she is acting on the authority of other employees, bringing group complaints to the employer’s attention, trying to induce group action, or seeking to prepare for group action.

A few examples of protected concerted activities are:

Two or more employees addressing their employer about improving their pay.
Two or more employees discussing work-related issues beyond pay, such as safety concerns, with each other.
An employee speaking to an employer on behalf of one or more co-workers about improving workplace conditions.

More information, including descriptions of actual concerted activity cases, is available on the protected concerted activity page.

from the NLRB's own Web site https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/your-rights/employee-rights

I'm sure the fired employees can easily find other employment with one of Musk's competitors

[LudwigPastorius]

17. Thanks, I was going to post that.

[brooklynite]

21. "Elon Musk's comments are embarrassing us" doesn't really rise to the level of "working conditions"

[LudwigPastorius]

18. The law specifically states that employees, union or not, cannot be fired in retaliation for...

joining with coworkers to talk directly to their employer, or the media, about problems in their workplace. The open letter they posted clearly does that.

Helpfully for lawsuit purposes, an email sent by COO Gwynne Shotwell in response definitively says that the reason they were fired was because of the critical letter.

[ruet]

19. The Letter and Pressure Campaign Isn't Any of Those Things.

They will lose.

[LudwigPastorius]

20. OK, counselor.

[Initech]

4. Well guess Elon's gone full MAGA Q nut now.

Free speech for me, but none for thee!

[paulkienitz]

15. yup, he now says he may support DeSantis

[Initech]

16. Totally gross, they can have each other.

That’s one of those things like “tell me you watch Tucker Carlson without telling me you watch Tucker Carlson”.

[JohnSJ]

5. Did they use company resources?

[pwb]

6. Another rich dick wants people to bow down to him.

Fuck off wealth class.

[RussBLib]

7. free speech, Elon?

remember that?

[Ziggysmom]

9. Sounds like another butthead.........

https://www.vox.com/first-person/2017/5/17/15626704/trump-comey-firing-recorded-phone-calls


"'I’ll never know for sure what’s behind Trump’s actions. But based on my experience working for him, this behavior is not surprising. It’s completely within character for Trump to demand utter loyalty from those with whom he surrounds himself — the concept of a “subordinate” as a check on his power is foreign to him. His insecurity feeds this desire to do all he can to remain the most powerful guy in the room."

[Crowman2009]

10. Hopefully once Boeing and Sierra Nevada Corp. get their spacecraft ready, we can then cut ties...

...with SpaceX.

[seta1950]

14. Well

Another thin skinned spoiled brat billionaire, who would of thought🤨