SpaceX fired at least five employees after they criticized CEO Elon Musk and called the firm to be more inclusive
According to people familiar with the matter the employees drafted and circulated a letter criticizing the space rocket company’s founder.
According to a New York Times report on Thursday, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell sent an email saying the company had investigated and “terminated a number of employees involved” with the letter.
In the mail, Shotwell said employees were fired for making other staff feel “uncomfortable, intimidated and bullied, and/or angry because the letter pressured them to sign onto something that did not reflect their views”.
The open letter, first reported by The Verge, was circulated and signed by an unknown number of SpaceX employees earlier this week.
Headed “an open letter to the Executives of SpaceX,” the letter was later seen by Reuters and called Musk a “distraction and embarrassment” to the company he founded.
The letter says SpaceX must swiftly and explicitly separate itself “from Elon’s personal brand,” hold all leadership equally accountable to making SpaceX a great place to work for everyone and define and uniformly respond to all forms of unacceptable behavior.
The letter also referenced a recent sexual misconduct allegation against Musk.
