A group of former SpaceX engineers has moved to intervene in the rocket and satellite maker's challenge to the structure of a U.S. labor board that is accusing the company of firing the workers for criticizing CEO Elon Musk.
The four engineers and their lawyers in filings in Brownsville, Texas federal court late Monday said they should be allowed to join the lawsuit because a victory for SpaceX would doom their claims pending before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. An NLRB spokeswoman declined to comment.
The lawsuit came one day after the board issued a complaint accusing SpaceX of illegally firing eight engineers, including the four seeking to intervene in the lawsuit, for calling Musk a "distraction and embarrassment" in a letter to company executives.
In Monday's filing, the workers said the NLRB does not adequately represent them in the lawsuit because the agency will be focused on broadly defending its structure rather than protecting their individual rights.
SpaceX's lawsuit "seeks to pull the rug out from underneath that process — potentially eviscerating the terminated employees’ right to a trial before the NLRB or dramatically delaying the process," they said.
The workers separately moved to transfer the case to federal court in Los Angeles, accusing SpaceX of "forum shopping" by suing the NLRB in the Texas court, where it "will receive a more sympathetic ear."
The lawsuit was assigned to U.S. District Judge Rolando Olvera, who in November blocked the U.S. Department of Justice from pursuing an administrative case accusing SpaceX of refusing to hire refugees and asylum recipients. SpaceX had sued the department, claiming its administrative judges were not properly appointed.
SpaceX operates a launch facility in Boca Chica, Texas, which is near Brownsville. But seven of the fired engineers worked at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, and the NLRB case is set to proceed before an administrative judge in Los Angeles, the workers said in the motion.
One of the engineers, Tom Moline, criticized SpaceX for its "attempt to re-write the rules in the middle of the game."
"Instead of addressing the repeated calls to fix its toxic work environment, SpaceX would rather neutralize the NLRB, ensuring that all workers across the country be subject to similarly demeaning working conditions," Moline said in a statement provided by his lawyers.
The board in its complaint against SpaceX claims the company violated the engineers' rights under federal labor law to band together and advocate for better working conditions.
In the 2022 letter, the workers criticized SpaceX's handling of sexual harassment claims and said Musk had violated company policies by making sexist comments on social media.
The complaint also accuses SpaceX of interrogating employees about the letter, disparaging the workers who were involved, and threatening to fire workers who engaged in similar activity.
SpaceX in its lawsuit said the letter violated company policies and "caused significant distraction to SpaceX employees around the country."
The case is SpaceX v. NLRB, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, No. 24-cv-0001.
For SpaceX: Catherine Eschbach, Harry Johnson and Michael Kenneally of Morgan Lewis & Bockius
For the NLRB: David Boehm
For the workers: Laurie Burgess of Burgess Law Offices; Anne Shaver and Nimish Desai of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein
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