Elon Musk’s SpaceX Sues NLRB After It Backed Fired Workers Who Complained About Him

SpaceX is suing the National Labor Relations Board, accusing the agency of unconstitutional overreach and arguing that a complaint related to the firing of eight employees should be halted.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court in Brownsville, Texas, came one day after the NLRB filed a complaint on behalf of the former employees. The group had circulated an open letter within the company in June 2022 that was critical of founder Elon Musk’s behavior and “personal brand.”

In the lawsuit, SpaceX argues that the board’s structure violates the separation of powers articulated in Article 2 of the Constitution and that it has been stripped of its Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial by the NLRB’s administrative action.

“The NLRB’s current way of functioning is miles away from the traditional understanding of the separation of powers, which views ‘[t]he accumulation of all powers legislative, executive and judiciary in the same hands’ as ‘the very definition of tyranny,’” Space Exploration Technologies Corp. said in the lawsuit, quoting from The Federalist Papers: No. 47.

The NLRB set a March 5 hearing before an administrative law judge, barring a settlement of the case before then.

The board has no comment on the lawsuit, spokeswoman Kayla Blado said Friday in an email.

SpaceX, which leads the U.S. space launch industry with its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket, terminated the workers after they sent a letter inside the company calling Musk’s behavior and tweets “a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment for us.” 

The board is seeking reinstatement, back pay and an apology letter for the former employees, along with training for SpaceX managers.