Elon Musk’s SpaceX hit with NLRB complaint over severance

this National Labor Relations Board defendant Space Exploration Technologies Corporation amid new complaints nationwide about illegal severance agreements being entered into with fired employees.

Two months ago, SpaceX filed a federal lawsuit challenging the legitimacy of the NLRB watchdog, and the federal agency accused the company in a separate indictment of illegally firing eight people who had publicly criticized its CEO, Elon Musk. Elon Musk’s employees. letter.

The new NLRB complaint alleges that SpaceX included unlawful confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses in severance agreements and unlawfully limited the ability of fired employees to participate in other claims against the company.

It also claims that the rocket maker and satellite internet company maintained an illegal rule requiring workers to sign arbitration and dispute resolution agreements and waive their right to receive money in class-action lawsuits as a condition of their employment. company.

Part of the severance agreement reads: “You agree not to provide assistance to any current, former or future SpaceX employee with any complaint, concern, claim or proceeding against the company, whether individually, collectively, or collectively.” The lawsuit states that unless there is a valid subpoena, or compelled to do so by a court order.”

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday by the NLRB District 19 Seattle Regional Director, alleges that “these illegal employment agreement provisions have been interfering with, restricting, and coercing employees from exercising their rights guaranteed by the National Labor Relations Act.” said in an email.

If SpaceX fails to resolve the case, an NLRB administrative law judge will hear the complaint on October 29 in Seattle.

Any final decision in the case can be appealed to federal court.

As part of the complaint, the agency’s general counsel is seeking a hearing judge’s order requiring SpaceX to revoke the severance agreement and class action waiver and provide widespread notice of employee rights to employees.

SpaceX did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on the complaint. The company has until April 3 to submit a response to the NLRB.

The action is the latest in a series of battles between Musk’s companies and the NLRB.

In a previous complaint filed against SpaceX on January 3, the NLRB claimed that the company fired eight employees after they sent a letter to company executives in June 2022 saying that Musk was “distracting and distracting.” Embarrassing people” and thereby violating workers’ rights.

The letter focused on a series of tweets from Musk since 2020, many of which were sexually suggestive.

All but one of the fired people worked at SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California.

The day after the NLRB filed its complaint, SpaceX sued the NLRB in Texas federal court. The company claims that the NLRB’s structure violates the U.S. Constitution.

Trader Joe’s grocery chain and online retail giant Amazon have both challenged the legality of the NLRB’s structure on these grounds in separate lawsuits.

In October, the NLRB accused Musk’s social media company X of violating the law when it fired an employee who criticized the company’s return-to-work policy. The worker, Yao Yue, was fired after he tried to organize other workers at the company over those concerns, the complaint said.

X was known as Twitter before Musk bought it.

The NLRB’s home page lists eight open cases be opposed to Teslais an electric vehicle manufacturer of which Musk serves as CEO.

Last year, Musk won the NLRB case when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed the NLRB administrative law judge’s ruling against Tesla.

An NLRB judge declared that Tesla’s uniform policy violated workers’ rights to wear clothing emblazoned with pro-union symbols and slogans.