On Thursday, space exploration company SpaceX initiated legal proceedings against a US labor board, aiming to prevent a case where the company is accused of wrongfully dismissing employees critical of CEO Elon Musk. Filed in a federal court in Brownsville, Texas, the lawsuit contends that the structure of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which issued a complaint against SpaceX on Wednesday, violates the US constitution.
The NLRB asserts that SpaceX violated federal labor law in 2022 by terminating eight workers who endorsed a letter addressed to company executives, characterizing Elon Musk as a "distraction and embarrassment" due to sexually suggestive tweets made since 2020. The case will proceed to an administrative judge and then a five-member board appointed by the US president, with the possibility of further appeal in federal court.
SpaceX's legal action argues that the NLRB's structure is unconstitutional, citing federal law, which permits the removal of board members and administrative judges only for cause and not at will. The lawsuit seeks to halt the progress of the NLRB case.
This move by SpaceX mirrors a recent strategy employed to block an administrative case by the US Department of Justice, which claimed the company unlawfully refused to hire refugees and asylum recipients. In a related case, a federal judge in Brownsville paused the administrative proceedings in November, pending the resolution of SpaceX's lawsuit. The judge maintained that constitutional requirements dictate the appointment of administrative judges at the justice department by the president, rather than the current practice of appointment by the attorney general.
The NLRB, already grappling with legal challenges, faces a similar lawsuit from a Starbucks employee opposing the unionization of the New York store where she works. This worker filed a lawsuit in October after the board denied her petition for an election to dissolve the union, and as of now, the agency has not responded to that particular legal challenge.