--- title: "SpaceX Sues Government Over Claim It Fired Employees for Criticizing Elon Musk" description: "SpaceX is suing the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) because, according to the company's claim, the agency itself is unconstitutional." date: "2024-01-06" modified: "2024-01-06" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-sues-nlrb" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "Space" - "SpaceX" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "labor" - "lawsuits" - "SpaceX" - "the digest" --- # SpaceX Sues Government Over Claim It Fired Employees for Criticizing Elon Musk ![SpaceX is suing the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) because, according to the company's claim, the agency itself is unconstitutional.]() *\Image: Antonio Masiello via Getty / Futurism\* ## Agency Smith Elon Musk's SpaceX is suing the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) because, according to the company's claim, the agency itself is unconstitutional. Filed before a federal district court in Texas, [SpaceX claimed in a complaint]() that the NLRB — which earlier this week accused the company of [firing workers for being critical of Musk]() — is "an unconstitutionally structured agency" whose in-house courts should have no jurisdiction over the spaceflight firm. To be fair, there's little doubt that SpaceX did, in fact, fire people who were critical of Musk. That much is very public, considering that the ex-employees in question [were terminated]() after signing and [issuing an open letter]() calling on their employer to distance itself from its founder because his erratic behavior was, per their description, a "frequent source of distraction and embarrassment." As the [NLRB alleged in its complaint]() against the company, SpaceX president and CEO Gwynne Shotwell and other C-suiters at the firm acted illegally when interrogating employees about the letter and then telling them to keep those conversations secret, and overall creating an "impression of surveillance (including reading and showing screenshots of communications between employees)," the agency wrote in its filing. ## Uno Reverse Now, in an effort to kibosh this latest NLRB clapback against the [many alleged]() [labor infractions]() [committed by companies]() in Musk's portfolio, SpaceX is using an unusual but not altogether unheard of argument in its countersuit: that the agency's in-house courts are "miles away from the traditional understanding of the separation of powers." Citing constitutional framer [James Madison](), the SpaceX suit even goes so far as to call the NLRB "the very definition of tyranny." The countersuit goes on to insinuate that the agency is unduly biased against him — a claim [Musk himself]() has [made repeatedly]() regarding the Securities and Exchange Commission's insistence on taking his [stupid pot joke tweet]() in 2018 seriously. "If the current Members of the NLRB are asked to make a prosecutorial determination about whether SpaceX is in violation of the \[National Labor Relations Act\], there is an objectively high risk that they would not later be able to provide the neutral adjudicative forum that the Constitution demands," the company's attorneys wrote, "and so would need to recuse from further participation in any agency adjudication against SpaceX." While it's fairly unlikely — [though not impossible]() — that any judge will agree with SpaceX's assertion, that's far from the point of this kind of filing. Musk is trying to gum up the works in this latest labor drama. And unfortunately, because he has enough money for an army of galaxy-brained lawyers, he's likely to succeed for the time being. **More on Musk:** [*Elon Musk Is Getting Absolutely Destroyed in Sweden*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()