The US Department of Justice is suing Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
It is alleging the rocket firm discriminates against refugees and asylum seekers in its hiring processes, and says the company falsely claimed it was not allowed to hire non-US citizens.
The DoJ alleged that SpaceX "routinely discouraged asylees and refugees from applying and refused to hire or consider them, because of their citizenship status" from September 2018 to May 2022.
Its investigation into billionaire Tesla boss Musk’s SpaceX was sparked by allegations of discrimination by a foreign worker.
Musk’s company said it was only allowed to hire citizens and green card holders due to “export control laws”, according to the DoJ.
But the department added this was incorrect and the laws do not mandate such restrictions.
The jobs from which refugee and asylee applicants were allegedly excluded from were wide ranging – from rocket engineering to dish-washing and cooking.
An asylee is a person who has been granted asylum. They are authorised to work in the US, may apply for a social security card, may request permission to travel overseas, and can apply to bring family members to the country.
The DoJ has asked SpaceX to look at providing backpay for those who were wrongly denied work because of this alleged discrimination.
Its lawsuit is not the first time one of Musk’s companies has been accused of discriminatory behaviour – a group of former employees of the social media website formerly known as Twitter, now controversially renamed X by Musk, filed a lawsuit earlier this month alleging the dad-of-10 engaged in gender, age and racial discrimination.
