SpaceX must face a lawsuit accusing it of illegally firing eight engineers who raised concerns about alleged sexual harassment and discrimination at the company after a US appeals court on Tuesday rejected its request to send the case to private arbitration.
- The San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a federal judge’s ruling that the engineers’ claims were exempt from the arbitration agreements they signed at SpaceX and can continue in court.
- Spokespeople for SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision.
- The engineers’ attorney, Laurie Burgess, said they were “delighted” with the court’s “well-reasoned” decision.
- The engineers filed the lawsuit in 2024, claiming SpaceX CEO Elon Musk ordered their firing after they circulated a letter calling the billionaire a “distraction and embarrassment” and urging executives to disavow sexually charged comments he made on social media.
- The lawsuit said Musk’s conduct fostered a “pervasively sexist culture” at SpaceX where female engineers were routinely subjected to harassment and sexist comments.
- SpaceX has denied the allegations.
- The 9th Circuit on Tuesday rejected SpaceX’s argument that the claims were not covered by a federal law that allows individuals to pursue lawsuits in “sexual harassment disputes” regardless of arbitration agreements.
(Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Matthew Lewis)
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