‘Work is not clean. You want to curse, don't open, right? '
The space company wholly owned by billionaire Elon Musk, SpaceX fired 5 employees who were found to be criticizing him in an open letter.
This was confirmed by SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell in an email stating the ‘dismissal of some employees’ after being found circulating letters criticizing Musk and urging the adoption of an inclusive work culture in the company.
Citing sources describing the incident, the investigation found that the dismissal was done as it made other staff feel ‘uncomfortable, scared, bullied or angry’ for being forced to sign something that did not reflect the views held.
According to the source, the open letter had called Musk a 'nuisance and embarrassment' to the company and urged SpaceX not to be used as the millionaire's personal brand.
For additional information, the open letter was made by SpaceX employees and shared through the ‘Morale Booster’ group chat which brought together thousands of other employees.
SpaceX has so far not elaborated on the dismissal.
In the meantime, Shotwell also expressed his commitment in ensuring the enforcement of the ‘zero tolerance of employee harassment’ standard at SpaceX in ensuring that such incidents do not recur.
