WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against SpaceX, the rocket and satellite company owned by Elon Musk, for alleged discrimination against asylum seekers and refugees in their hiring process.
The Justice Department stated in a press release, “The lawsuit claims that between September 2018 and May 2022, SpaceX consistently discouraged asylees and refugees from applying and refused to hire or consider them based on their citizenship status, which violates the Immigration and Nationality Act.”
According to the Justice Department, SpaceX has inaccurately stated in job postings and public statements over the years that they could only employ U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, commonly known as “green card holders,” due to federal export control laws.
The Justice Department also highlighted Elon Musk’s discriminatory public statements as evidence in the lawsuit. One such example was a tweet from Musk in June 2020, when he had 36 million followers on Twitter (formerly known as X), stating that “U.S. law requires at least a green card to be hired at SpaceX, as rockets are advanced weapons technology.”
At the time of writing, SpaceX has not yet responded with a comment regarding the lawsuit.
Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; additional reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Paul Grant and Susan Heavey
Credit: The Star : Tech Feed
