SpaceX employees decry Elon Musk's behaviour as 'embarrassment'; demand actions in letter

CEO Elon Musk’s recent behaviour including the allegations of sexual harassment against him has harmed the reputation of SpaceX, claims a letter drafted by some of the company employees. According to The Verge, the letter was posted on the SpaceX Microsoft Teams channel and other employees are being asked to sign onto the letter’s suggestions either publicly or anonymously. Once signed, the document, which has been prepared by unknown employees, will be forwarded to SpaceX COO and President Gwynne Shotwell. 

SpaceX employees denounce Musk's public behaviour

To maintain anonymity, the letter states that it was written by employees "across the spectra of gender, ethnicity, seniority, and technical roles". The employees have complained that their CEO Elon Musk's public behaviour has been a "source of distraction and embarrassment" and further stated that as the face of SpaceX, his tweets are automatically assumed to be a statement by the company. "It is critical to make clear to our teams and to our potential talent pool that his messaging does not reflect our work, our mission, or our values", the letter reads.

What's more, is that the anonymous employees have suggested three action plans to get hold of the situation. These plans include:

• to address and condemn "Elon’s harmful Twitter behavior"
• to "hold all leadership equally accountable"
• to "clearly define what exactly is intended by SpaceX’s 'no-a**hole' and 'zero tolerance' policies" and their consistent enforcement.

Notably, other employees are being encouraged to support the initiative by either filling out a survey or scanning a QR code. 

Accessing Musk's public behaviour

In the recent past, Musk has been the centre of attention, especially on Twitter, and due to the fact that he is in the process of buying the social media platform. As for his tweets, he recently posted a picture of Bill Gates next to the new pregnant man emoji and has engaged in multiple spats with US Senator of Vermont, Bernie Sanders. In one of his tweets, Musk said he "keeps forgetting" that Sanders is still alive after the latter raised the issue of non-tax payments by the billionaires.

In addition to this, he has also allegedly mocked the mission failures of Jeff Bezos' space tourism company Blue Origin, which many SpaceX employees must have been disappointed about. On the other hand, he also faced serious sexual harassment allegations by a former company employee who claimed that Musk tried to settle the matter by paying the woman $250,000. SpaceX President Shotwell, however, rejected the allegations saying she has "never seen nor heard anything resembling these allegations" in the 20 years she has worked with Musk.