Former SpaceX workers allege they were fired for criticizing Elon Musk

Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Former SpaceX workers allege Elon Musk's company illegally fired them in retaliation for criticizing him. Eight complaints were filed at the National Labor Relations Board alleging the retaliatory firings violate federal labor law.

The NLRB complaints say SpaceX carried out a campaign of retaliation and intimidation after an open letter to executives said that Musk's "behavior in the public sphere is a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment for us." The letter urged SpaceX to "swiftly and explicitly separate itself from Musk's personal brand."

The former SpaceX workers allege that their firings after they criticized Musk were violations of the National Labor Relations Act.

The NLRB complaints say that five SpaceX employees were fired the day after the open letter to executives was sent in June. Four others, according to the complaints, were fired in July and August.

Paige Holland-Thiesen said in her complaint that she and other SpaceX workers were engaged in "concerted protected activity," which bars employers from retaliating under federal labor law.

"After this initial wave of wrongful retaliatory terminations, over the next two months SpaceX continued its campaign of retaliation and intimidation by interrogating dozens of employees in private meetings and falsely telling them that the conversations were attorney client privileged and could not be disclosed to anyone," Holland-Thiesen's complaint said.

Tom Moline is a former SpaceX engineer fired in June after helping with the open letter to the executives.

"It was hard for me to believe what was happening, it was so brazen," Moline said. "It feels like one of those times employees have protections."

SpaceX has not yet responded to media requests for comment on the fired workers' NLRB complaints.