SpaceX fires employees who complained about Elon Musk
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The letter was criticized by SpaceX's President as "overreaching activism".
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SpaceX fires employees who complained about Elon Musk.
SpaceX has fired a number of employees who wrote and distributed a letter criticizing CEO Elon Musk's behavior, with the company's President dismissing the letter as "overreaching activism".
The open letter, first reported by The Verge, described Musk’s behavior as “a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment for us, particularly in recent weeks.” It cites SpaceX’s “No Asshole” policy and asks the company to “publicly address and condemn Elon’s harmful Twitter behavior.”
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The letter writers said, “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. It is critical to make clear to our teams and to our potential talent pool that his messaging does not reflect our work, our mission, or our values.”
According to an email sent by SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and obtained by The Verge, a number of the letter's drafters were fired Thursday afternoon. The New York Times broke the news of the firing first.
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In the email, Shotwell said SpaceX had “terminated a number of employees involved” in crafting the letter. “The letter, solicitations, and general process made employees feel uncomfortable, intimidated and bullied, and/or angry because the letter pressured them to sign onto something that did not reflect their views,” wrote Shotwell. “We have too much critical work to accomplish and no need for this kind of overreaching activism.”
One anonymous employee who helped write the letter argued that Shotwell's email was "tone-deaf". The employee claimed that the letter was the result of a “month of dedicated hard work and soliciting feedback to try and make sure we got as much input as possible.”
Musk has long been a volatile figure, but his behavior has gotten even more attention since his proposed acquisition of Twitter in April — a $44 billion deal that has yet to be finalized. Insider reported last month that SpaceX paid a flight attendant $250,000 after Musk allegedly exposed himself and propositioned her.
