On Thursday, The US Department of Justice took legal action by filing a lawsuit against SpaceX, the rocket company owned by billionaire Elon Musk. The department accused the company of practicing discrimination when it comes to hiring refugees or asylum seekers.
US Justice Department says
The justice department said SpaceX “routinely discouraged asylees and refugees from applying and refused to hire or consider them, because of its citizenship status” from around September 2018 to May 2022.
The US Department of Justice mentioned in its court filings that they had initiated an investigation into SpaceX after getting a complaint alleging discrimination against non-US citizens in the company’s hiring process. This civil lawsuit arrived two years after the effect.
Kristen Clarke, the assistant attorney general of the justice department’s civil rights division said, “Our investigation found that SpaceX failed to fairly consider or hire asylees and refugees because of their citizenship status and imposed what amounted to a ban on their hire regardless of their qualification, in violation of federal law,” in a statement.
He added, “Our investigation also found that SpaceX recruiters and high-level officials took actions that actively discouraged asylees and refugees from seeking work opportunities at the company,” Later in the press release, Clarke remarked, “Through this lawsuit we will hold SpaceX accountable for its illegal employment practices and seek relief that allows asylees and refugees to fairly compete for job opportunities and contribute their talents to SpaceX’s workforce.”
SpaceX was not available immediately to respond to the comment. The lawsuit claims that the company incorrectly asserted that the federal “export control laws” prohibited them from hiring people who were not US citizens or permanent residents. Consequently, this policy deterred asylum seekers, refugees, and grantees from pursuing job opportunities in the company.
However, the US Justice Department says that the export control laws do not impose such limits. The department insisted that SpaceX or any other company within the US can hire refugees and asylees just like they could hire US citizens and green card holders.
What did Musk say?
Previously, Musk said hiring foreign nationals is not allowed by SpaceX. He tried to lean on the fact that sharing information concerning rocket technology known as ITAR or International Traffic in Arms Regulations is restricted.
The Justice Department started its investigation into the hiring practices of SpaceX in 2020 based on a complaint received from an individual. The person claimed that SpaceX did not hire him after getting to know that he was not a US citizen or a lawful permanent resident. Based on the same, a federal judge in June 2021 ruled that SpaceX needed to turn over its hiring records.
SpaceX attorneys’ statement
Attorneys for SpaceX wrote, “SpaceX cannot afford to artificially limit the talent pool from which it hires by discriminating against anyone on the basis of their citizenship,” in a legal filing related to the department’s investigation in 2021.
Previous lawsuits
Surprisingly, this is not the first time that a company run by Musk has faced a lawsuit. Earlier this month, several ex-employees of Twitter (currently X) filed suit alleging Musk to have engaged in age, gender, and racial discrimination.
The suit stated, “The fact that more women than men were laid off is not surprising given Musk’s history of making sexist, demeaning, and hostile comments against women.”
In 2022, Walmart Inc., Capital One Financial Corp., CarMax Inc., and Axis Analytics LLC had to settle with the Justice Department when similar claims over prejudiced job placements against non-US citizens were made.
