SpaceX Fired Employees Who Criticised Elon Musk

The private rocket company SpaceX laid off at least five employees after they drafted and sent out an open letter criticizing the founder Elon Musk. The letter also called on the company's executives for a more inclusive work culture. The Guardian informs about this.

According to the New York Times, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell subsequently sent an email stating that the company had investigated and dismissed a number of employees involved in drafting and sending the letter.

"Because of the letter, some employees felt uncomfortable, intimidated, bullied and / or angry as the letter forced them to sign something that did not reflect their views," the SpaceX president said in an email. "We have too much crucial work ahead of us and we don't need this kind of exaggerated activism," she added. It is not clear exactly how many people were let go.

Some SpaceX employees began sending a letter condemning Musk's activity on Twitter on Wednesday via the internal group chat "Morale Boosters", which brings together thousands of employees. In it, they described the billionaire's public behavior and tweets as a "frequent source of distraction."

According to the authors, the company must quickly separate itself from Elon's personal brand. Another point discussed was a unified response to all forms of unacceptable behavior. In May, Insider published an article stating that Musk had committed sexual harassment. In 2016, he allegedly harassed a flight attendant during a flight to London.

Musk is currently entering into an agreement to buy Twitter for $ 44 billion. He made it clear that he supported looser control of speech on the web. According to him, the platform should allow the publication of outrageous things, unless the content is illegal.