World

US government sues SpaceX for 'employing only Americans'

Aug 25, 2023

Washington [US], August 25: The US government has sued billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX company for discriminating in recruiting Americans and refugees.
The US government lawsuit filed by the Justice Department in court on August 24 alleges that billionaire Elon Musk 's SpaceX regularly discourages asylum seekers and refugees from applying for jobs, according to The Guardian . The company also refuses to hire or consider these people because of their citizenship. According to the US Department of Justice, the SpaceX action took place from at least September 2018 to May 2022.
SpaceX is accused of incorrectly invoking export control laws to tell non-US job applicants that the company can only hire Americans or green card holders, i.e. permanent residents. However, the Justice Department stressed that the aforementioned laws do not make such a provision and that SpaceX can hire asylum seekers and refugees such as US citizens and permanent residents.
On the other hand, SpaceX is accused of issuing public notices, job application forms, and job postings that do not include refugees, and do not fairly review applications from this group of people. According to the allegations, during the four years mentioned above, SpaceX only hired US citizens and green card holders.
Asylum seekers and refugees are not only excluded from positions that require high qualifications such as rocket engineers, software engineers, but also jobs such as cleaning, cooking, washing dishes.
The Justice Department asked billionaire Elon Musk 's company to give refugees a fair chance, introduce penalties and change policies to ensure the companies comply. The Justice Department also appealed to those who were denied the opportunity to participate in the lawsuit. SpaceX has not commented on the lawsuit.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper