SpaceX fired a number of employees who wrote and shared a letter criticizing CEO Elon Musk’s behavior, with the company’s president criticizing the letter as “excessive activism.”
The open letter, first reported by The Verge, described Musk’s behavior as “a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment for us, especially in recent weeks.” It cites SpaceX’s “Assless” policy and asks the company to “publicly address and condemn Elon’s harmful behavior on Twitter.”
The authors of the letter said: “As our CEO and most prominent speaker, Elon is seen as the face of SpaceX – every tweet Elon sends is a de facto public statement by the company. It is crucial that we make it clear to our teams and our potential talent pool that his messages do not reflect our work, our mission or our values. “
The open letter said Musk’s chaotic behavior was a “shame” for SpaceX
Some of the authors of the letter were fired on Thursday afternoon, according to an email sent by SpaceX President Gwyn Shotwell and seen by The Verge. The news of the shooting was first reported by The New York Times.
In the email, Shotwell said that SpaceX had “suspended a number of employees involved” in drafting the letter. “The letters, petitions and the general process made the employees feel uncomfortable, scared and harassed and / or angry because the letter forced them to sign something that did not reflect their views,” Shotwell wrote. “We have too much critical work to do and there is no need for this kind of excessive activism.”
An employee who wrote the letter, who asked to remain anonymous, said the general opinion among other employees was that Shotwell’s email was “deaf”. The official said the letter was the result of “a month of dedicated hard work and asking for feedback to try to get as much information as possible”.
We contacted SpaceX for comment and will update this story if we receive feedback.
Musk has long been an unstable figure, but after his proposed acquisition of Twitter in April – a $ 44 billion deal that has not yet been finalized – his behavior has attracted even more attention. Last month, Insider reported that SpaceX had paid the flight attendant $ 250,000 after Musk claimed to have exposed himself to her and offered. Musk later joked about the incident on Twitter, telling another user, “If you touch my vignette, you can have a horse.”
You can read Shotwell’s email to the company below:
You may have received an unsolicited request from a small group of SpaceX employees for your signature on an “open letter” yesterday and your participation in a related study. Based on various employee reviews, this upset many people. In other words, the letter, the requests and the general process made the employees feel uncomfortable, scared and harassed and / or angry because the letter forced them to sign something that did not reflect their views. Employees also complained that this hindered their ability to focus and do their work. We have 3 launches in 37 hours for critical satellites this weekend, we need to support the astronauts we delivered to the ISS and get the cargo Dragon back ready for flight, and after receiving environmental approval earlier this week, we are on the threshold of the first attempt to launch into the orbit of Starship. We have too much critical work to do and there is no need for this kind of comprehensive activism – our current leadership team is more committed to ensuring that we have a great and ever-improving work environment than anyone I have seen in my 35-year career.
We want and expect our employees to report any concerns to their management, senior management, human resources or legal authorities. But covering thousands of people across the company with repeated unsolicited emails and asking them to sign letters and fill out unsponsored surveys during the workday is unacceptable, contrary to our documented policy policy, and does not show the strong judgment needed to work in this area. challenging space transport sector. We investigated and fired a number of employees involved.
I am sorry for this distraction. Please stay focused on SpaceX’s mission and use your time to do your best. That’s how we get to Mars.
Update, Friday, June 17, 4:20 a.m .: The story has been updated with a full letter from Shotwell.
Add Comment