SpaceX accused of unlawfully firing employees who were critical of Elon Musk
New York, Jan 4: A US labour agency has accused SpaceX of unlawfully firing employees who penned an open letter critical of CEO Elon Musk and creating an impression that worker activities were under surveillance by the rocket ship company.
A Los Angeles-based regional director for the National Labour Relations Board on Wednesday filed a complaint that consolidates eight unfair labour practice charges against SpaceX.
The cases stem from the company's alleged actions following the circulation of the employees' letter back in June 2022.
The letter, among other workplace concerns, called on executives to condemn Musk's public behaviour on X the platform then-known as Twitter and hold everyone accountable for unacceptable conduct. Musk's actions included making light of sexual harassment allegations against him, which the billionaire denied.
"As our CEO and most prominent spokesperson, Elon is seen as the face of SpaceX every tweet that Elon sends is a de facto public statement by the company," the open letter said at the time. The letter also referred to Musk's actions as a "frequent source of distraction and embarrassment."
A total of nine employees were soon terminated for their involvement in the letter, according to a November 2022 filing made on behalf of one of the employees to the NLRB.
In addition to the firings, Wednesday's complaint (which again covers eight cases) accuses SpaceX of interrogating other workers about the letter, announcing that employees were terminated for their participation in the letter and "inviting employees to quit if they disagreed with the behaviour of Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk."
The complaint also alleges that some were shown screen shots of communications between employees about the letter, which "created an impression among (SpaceX's) employees that their protected concerted activities were under surveillance."
SpaceX did not immediately respond to The Associated Press' requests for comment Thursday.
The Hawthorne, California company has until mid-January to respond to the complaint, according to Wednesday's filing. The complaint marks the NLRB's first step towards litigating these allegations and seeking a settlement. If a settlement isn't reached, a hearing is scheduled to begin on March 5 in Los Angeles.
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Madhya Pradesh: BJP leader assaults blind woman in Church
Jabalpur: Anju Bhargava, vice-president of BJP's Jabalpur city unit, has come under sharp scrutiny, creating the ripples of political controvery in Madhya Pradesh, after a video surfaced online showing her physically assaulting a visually impaired woman inside a church.
The New Indian Express has reported that the said incident reportedly took place on Saturday (20 Dec) at a church in the Hawa Bagh area, which comes under the limits of Gorakhpur police station.
The video footage that has circulated widely on Monday shows Anju Bhargava, assaulting the blind woman in the presence of a police officer. In the video, Bhargava is seen shouting at the woman, twisting her arm and forcibly grabbing her face. The victim can be heard pleading to Bhargava to speak to her rather than resorting to physical violence. Also, we can hear Bhargava screaming, “will be blind in her next birth too”
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According to The Indian Express reports, Bhargava entered the church, with members of several Hindutva affiliated organisations, alleging that the visually impaired children were being forced into religious conversion; But, the students present at the church have flatly denied all the allegations.
An unnamed police officer cited in media reports states that there was no evidence to support claims of forced religious conversion. The incident has since intensified political debate in the state, with opposition parties demanding accountability and action against those involved.
