SpaceX, owned by businessman Elon Musk, has been accused by a US labor agency of requiring the rocket and satellite maker’s fired employees to sign illegal severance agreements barring them from criticizing the company or to participate in class action lawsuits against it. The complaint, filed Wednesday by the Seattle regional office of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), comes at a time when SpaceX is already facing another action from the agency and sued, with the charges that the agency’s structure violates the US Constitution. SpaceX, which is based in Hawthorne, California, is accused in the new lawsuit of asking several employees to sign severance agreements with confidentiality and non-dispute clauses, which prevent them from exercising their rights under U.S. labor laws , the agency said in a statement this Thursday. Such provisions are common in severance agreements, but the NLRB says such agreements must make it clear that employees cannot waive their rights to advocate for better working conditions or file complaints with the board. The NLRB also alleges that illegal agreements signed by SpaceX ask employees to bring legal disagreements into negotiation, rather than sue, and to opt out of class action lawsuits against the company.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The first hearing in the case is scheduled for October, before an administrative judge, whose decision can be reviewed by the NLRB, whose five members are appointed by the president of the United States. Appeals of the board’s decision must be brought in federal court.
Source: Terra
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