A Falcon 9 rocket is proudly displayed outside the renowned Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) headquarters in Hawthorne, California.
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The U.S. Department of Justice has taken legal action against SpaceX, accusing Elon Musk’s pioneering space company of engaging in discriminatory hiring practices specifically targeting refugees and individuals who have been granted asylum in the United States.
According to the lawsuit, SpaceX allegedly violated regulations between 2018 and 2022 by falsely claiming that export control laws limited their hiring options to U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents.
The Department of Justice initiated its investigation into SpaceX in June 2020 following a complaint regarding employment discrimination from a non-U.S. citizen to its Immigrant and Employee Rights Section.
“Our investigation revealed that SpaceX showed prejudice against asylees and refugees due to their citizenship status, effectively imposing a ban on their recruitment regardless of their qualifications, which is a violation of federal law,” stated Kristen Clarke, Assistant Attorney General of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.
Furthermore, the investigation uncovered evidence that SpaceX recruiters and high-ranking officials actively discouraged asylees and refugees from pursuing employment opportunities at the company.
Based on the data provided by SpaceX, the DOJ highlighted that out of more than 10,000 hires over a period of nearly four years, the company only employed one individual who identified as an asylee, and even that hire occurred several months after SpaceX was notified of the ongoing investigation.
CNBC reached out to SpaceX for comment but has not received an immediate response. The lawsuit has been filed with the Executive Office for Immigration Review, a division of the DOJ responsible for adjudicating immigration cases.
The DOJ lawsuit, available at this link, seeks to ensure fair consideration and back pay for asylees and refugees who faced deterrence or denial of employment at SpaceX due to the alleged discrimination. It also demands civil penalties and policy changes within the company.
An additional incident occurred in 2021 when the DOJ’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section accused SpaceX of obstructing a subpoena related to the ongoing investigation. The department requested a court order that would require SpaceX to comply with the submission of relevant hiring documents. Although SpaceX had filed a petition with a DOJ administrative tribunal to dismiss the subpoena, claiming that it exceeded the authority of the IER (Immigrant and Employee Rights) Section, the petition was ultimately denied.
The IER launched its probe following a complaint from Fabian Hutter, who alleged that SpaceX discriminated against him during a job interview for a technical strategy associate position in March 2020 by inquiring about his citizenship status. Hutter is not a U.S. citizen, but according to a document submitted by SpaceX in response to a 2021 DOJ subpoena, he holds dual citizenship from Austria and Canada and is a lawful permanent resident of the United States.
CNBC has reached out to Fabian Hutter for comment but has yet to receive a response.
Please find the full text of the DOJ’s lawsuit below:
– This report includes contributions from CNBC’s Dan Mangan.
Correction: The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against SpaceX, alleging discriminatory hiring practices against refugees and individuals granted asylum in the United States. A previous version of this article mischaracterized the nature of the alleged violation.
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