The Department of Justice announced Thursday afternoon federal prosecutors have filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk's SpaceX, alleging discrimination in hiring practices.
"The Justice Department filed a lawsuit today against Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) for discriminating against asylees and refugees in hiring. The lawsuit alleges that, from at least September 2018 to May 2022, SpaceX routinely discouraged asylees and refugees from applying and refused to hire or consider them, because of their citizenship status, in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA)," DOJ released Thursday. "SpaceX discouraged asylees and refugees from applying for open positions, through public announcements, job applications and other online recruiting communications that excluded asylees and refugees. SpaceX failed to fairly consider applications submitted by asylees and refugees. SpaceX refused to hire qualified asylee and refugee applicants and repeatedly rejected asylee and refugee applicants because of their citizenship status. SpaceX hired only U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, from September 2018 to September 2020."
In other words, SpaceX hired Americans and DOJ is unhappy about it.
"The United States seeks fair consideration and back pay for asylees and refugees who were deterred or denied employment at SpaceX due to the alleged discrimination. The United States also seeks civil penalties in an amount to be determined by the court and policy changes to ensure it complies with the INA’s nondiscrimination mandate going forward," DOJ continues.
.@TheJusticeDept sues @SpaceX for allegedly discriminating against refugees and asylum seekers in hiring. This 2020 tweet suggests how CEO @elonmusk interpreted the law. And here's a link to today's press release from DOJ: https://t.co/QT2825dzLC https://t.co/6eK0WxwrfL
— Jonathan Serrie (@jonathanserrie) August 24, 2023
For years the Biden administration has targeted Musk and snubbed Tesla, the most successful and productive electric car company on the planet, at official White House events because the employees are not unionized. When Musk purchased Twitter late last year, the White House questioned the sale and Democrats like Senator Elizabeth Warren on Capitol Hill demanded a federal investigation.
