SpaceX sued by DOJ over hiring practices

The Department of Justice announced Thursday that they are suing SpaceX over hiring practices that might have discriminated against non-US citizens and asylum/refugee seekers. This is not the first time this topic has been brought up about SpaceX but after years of investigation, the DOJ seems ready to bring suit.

Why the DOJ is suing SpaceX

According to the suit, SpaceX’s hiring practices between at least September 2018 to May 2022 were discriminatory against asylees and refugees. The DOJ claims that many individuals who did not hold a Green Card or were US citizens ended up not getting positions at SpaceX because they could not hire them due to export control laws.

“Our investigation found that SpaceX failed to fairly consider or hire asylees and refugees because of their citizenship status and imposed what amounted to a ban on their hire regardless of their qualification, in violation of federal law,” Kristen Clark, Assistant Attorney General said in a DOJ statement. Clark also stated that “SpaceX recruiters and high-level officials took actions that actively discouraged asylees and refugees from seeking work opportunities.”

The DOJ investigation that led to this lawsuit began back in 2020 after a non-US citizen filed a complaint with the DOJ’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section. Fabian Hutter, a dual Austrian and Canadian citizen and permanent US national, applied to SpaceX for a position and claimed discrimination after being asked about his citizenship status during an interview.

This investigation wasn’t secret, SpaceX was notified by the DOJ when it began. Later SpaceX refused to participate in a subpoena for hiring documents that a court then ordered them to hand over in 2021.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has been asked this publicly several times about hiring non-US citizens and his responses have been consistent claiming ITAR, International Traffic in Arms Regulations, barred them from hiring anyone but citizens and green card holders unless they were signed off by the state department.

What are the laws about who SpaceX can hire?

According to regulations put in place by the Department of State for the control of sensitive technologies, like rockets, companies that develop anything of the such must take measures to protect these export-controlled items. There are two total sets of laws that regulate them, ITAR and the Export Administration Regulations, EAR.

These regulations do bar some individuals from being hired at the company, but only when those positions would require access to any export-controlled information. ITAR and the EAR allow US citizens, green card holders (lawful permanent residents), US nationals, asylees, and refugees to view this sort of information without any additional approval from the government.

The DOJ points out in its statement that asylums and refugees go through a lengthy vetting and background check before being allowed permanent residence in the United States. This is why they are allowed to view and work at companies that handle export-controlled technologies.

In SpaceX’s job listings, the company even states that asylees and refugees are eligible for employment.

This is the second lawsuit SpaceX is dealing with publicly as its Starship development down in Starbase, Texas is also under review over environmental concerns. That suit is still working through administrative steps, which could last until early December at the latest or the end of September at the earliest.

While the Starship lawsuit could have serious implications for the future of SpaceX and NASA’s programs with the rocket, sadly discrimination against asylees and refugees usually just ends up in a few hundred thousand dollars in back pay and fines.