SpaceX has filed a lawsuit against the US National Labour Relations Board, NLRB, to prevent former employees, who claimed they were dismissed for criticising Elon Musk, from testifying before the federal agency.
The aerospace company argued that the functioning of the NLRB was unconstitutional, and suggested that the hearing process infringed upon its right to a trial by jury, according to the complaint, lodged with a Texas federal court.
The lawsuit does not deny that the former employees were dismissed after encouraging their colleagues to sign an open letter contesting Musk’s online behaviour.
The open letter asked SpaceX to take certain steps to address perceived shortcomings, the court document mentioned.
A small group of SpaceX employees used the company’s internal communication platform to distribute the letter to thousands of coworkers in June 2022.
In the letter, the employees called on the company’s management to address what they perceived as disrespectful and inappropriate comments made by Musk on Twitter, renamed “X” last summer, according to US reports.
Those subsequently dismissed lodged a complaint to the NLRB, accusing SpaceX of violating labour law. The agency is set to hear from eight of these individuals on 5 March.
In its complaint, SpaceX requested a halt to the hearing and asked that the NLRB’s structure be deemed unconstitutional.
