She said the workers who had coordinated the effort had been fired, but did not say how many. The New York Times was the first to report on the layoffs.
The letter called Musk’s behavior “a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment.” It comes as the Tesla billionaire is in the midst of a high-profile effort to acquire Twitter and after a business report Well-informed person alleging he had sexually harassed a flight attendant aboard a corporate jet, allegations Musk condemned as a “politically motivated hit piece” intended to disrupt his $44 billion bid for the social media platform. The Post has been unable to verify those allegations.
Musk and his companies also received a civil lawsuit Thursday for allegedly defrauding investors as part of a scheme to promote the dogecoin cryptocurrency. The lawsuit alleges that Musk was part of a “pump and dump” scam that involved him promoting dogecoin to attract more investors and then rapidly selling off his assets as their value peaked, sinking the rest of the coin’s value. .
In recent weeks, Musk has used his Twitter account to praise right-wing political figures, boost cryptocurrencies and accuse the media of liberal bias, all while sharing updates on SpaceX’s progress toward various launches. His account also tweeted and retweeted lewd jokes and attacked liberal politicians, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.).
Shotwell told employees that the concerns raised in the letter threatened to derail SpaceX’s focus on those tasks.
“We have 3 launches in 37 hours for critical satellites this weekend, we have to support the astronauts we deliver to the [International Space Station] and get the charging dragon [SpaceX’s unmanned flight capsule] We are flight-ready again, and after receiving environmental clearance earlier this week, we are on the cusp of Starship’s first orbital launch attempt,” Shotwell said.
“We have too much critical work to do and we don’t need this kind of far-reaching activism – our current leadership team is more dedicated to ensuring we have a great, ever-improving work environment than any I’ve seen in my 35-year career. years. ”
He added that “keeping thousands of people across the company” with requests to sign the letter “does not show the strong judgment required to work in this very challenging space transportation sector.”
NASA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The open letter, a draft of which was obtained by The Post, asked co-workers to sign either by name or anonymously. It also appeared to provide a web platform for employees to confidentially submit stories of personal experiences at the company and encouraged workers to discuss the letter with their supervisors at upcoming meetings.
The letter called on executives to “publicly address and condemn Elon’s damaging behavior on Twitter.”
“SpaceX must quickly and explicitly separate itself from Elon’s personal brand,” the draft said.
“The collaboration we need to make life multiplanetary is incompatible with a culture that treats employees as consumable resources,” he later said. “Our unique position requires that we consider how our actions today will shape the experiences of people beyond our planet. Is the culture we are fostering now the one we intend to take to Mars and beyond?
Shotwell in his letter seemed to offer a direct response to that criticism: “Please stay focused on the SpaceX mission and use your time at work to do your best work. This is how we will get to Mars.”
Musk’s behavior has gotten him into trouble before. In 2018, after he took a hit of marijuana and sipped whiskey on Joe Rogan’s podcast, NASA ordered a cultural safety assessment of the company.
NASA administrator at the time, Jim Bridenstine, was furious and ordered a review of the company’s safety culture and procedures.
“If I see something that is inappropriate, the main concern for me is what is the culture that led to that inappropriateness and is NASA involved in that,” he told The Post at the time. “As an agency, we not only address ourselves, but also our contractors. We need to show the American public that when we put an astronaut on a rocket, they will be safe.”
The space agency conducted an audit of the company that a senior NASA official at the time called “pretty invasive,” interviewing hundreds of employees at all levels and reviewing documents. NASA did not release its findings, Shotwell told reporters that the “results were very positive.”
A former senior NASA official said the sexual misconduct allegation did not appear in the review and that leadership was unaware.
Musk met Twitter employees for the first time on Thursday in a meeting that again angered employees there, The Post reported. Musk was late for the meeting and remotely dialed into what appeared to be a cell phone. He expressed his desire to bring Tesla and SpaceX’s most brutal work environments to Twitter when the merger is complete.
Asked if he believes in running companies as a “meritocracy,” Musk replied, “If somebody’s doing stuff, great, I love them.” If they are not, why are they in the company?
Shotwell has repeatedly said that the company does not tolerate discrimination or harassment and that she personally reviews complaints that employees are encouraged to file in an anonymous mailbox. But SpaceX has always been a very demanding workplace, and many employees feel the company should do more to foster a healthier environment.
Before the employees published the letter this week, a former employee told The Post that SpaceX doesn’t do enough to curb inappropriate behavior and that it’s sometimes fueled by Musk’s actions.
“I think the company should do more,” a former employee recently told the Post. “The absence of a CEO who does not declare this behavior unacceptable emboldens people. And when you know who Elon is and you know the company will protect the company, and you start to see Elon’s fan base, you’re like, ‘I’m not going to talk about that.
With the SpaceX employee layoffs, at least one space industry official saw an opportunity. Allen Chen, one of the top engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, retweeted a news story about the shooting with a link to JPL job openings page.
Reference-www.washingtonpost.com