Rocket and satellite maker SpaceX on Thursday sued a US labor board to dam its case accusing the corporate of illegally firing employees who sent a letter to company executives calling CEO Elon Musk “a distraction and embarrassment.”
SpaceX within the lawsuit filed in Brownsville, Texas federal court claims the structure of the National Labor Relations Board, which issued a grievance against the corporate on Wednesday, violates the US Structure.
The NLRB alleges SpaceX violated federal labor law by firing eight staff in 2022 for signing onto the letter, which accused Musk of constructing sexist comments that went against company policies. That case will likely be heard by an administrative judge after which a five-member board appointed by the US president. The board’s decisions might be appealed in federal court.
But SpaceX in its lawsuit claims that because federal law only allows board members and administrative judges to be removed for cause, and never at will, the NLRB’s structure is unconstitutional.
The lawsuit seeks to dam the NLRB case from moving forward.
An NLRB spokeswoman declined to comment.
SpaceX recently utilized the same tactic to dam an administrative case by the Department of Justice claiming the corporate illegally refused to rent refugees and asylum recipients.
A federal judge in Brownsville, where Thursday’s case was filed, in November paused the executive case pending the end result of a lawsuit by SpaceX. The judge said that the Structure required administrative judges on the Justice Department to be appointed by the president, and never the attorney general as they currently are.
The NLRB is already facing the same lawsuit from a Starbucks worker who opposed the unionization of the Recent York store where she works. The employee sued the board in October after it denied her petition for an election to dissolve the union. The agency has not responded to that lawsuit.