A Falcon 9 rocket launches the Transporter-1 mission in January 2021.
SpaceX
The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Elon Musk’s SpaceX on whether the company discriminates against non-U.S. citizens in its hiring practices, according to court documents filed Thursday.
The DOJ’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Division received a complaint of employment discrimination from a non-U.S. Citizen alleging that the company discriminated against him based on his citizenship status.
“The position alleges that approximately on March 10, 2020, during the interview of the position manager for the position of associate in technology strategy, SpaceX made inquiries about its status as a citizen and, finally, he was unable to hire him because he is not a U.S. citizen or legal resident, ”DOJ lawyer Lisa Sandoval wrote in a complaint filed Thursday.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment. The Justice Department declined to comment.
SpaceX headquarters in Los Angeles, California.
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The Immigrant and Employee Rights Division (IER) says it notified SpaceX by email on June 8 that it had opened an investigation, requesting SpaceX to provide information and documents related to its hiring and verification processes. of job eligibility.
The complaint says SpaceX responded in August, sending the DOJ an I-9 Employee Information spreadsheet dating back to June 2019. But SpaceX rejected the DOJ’s request “to produce any documents support for Form I-9, such as copies of passports, driver’s licenses or Social Security cards, “Sandoval wrote.
IER obtained a subpoena on October 7, but the complaint states that SpaceX refused to produce the cited documents.
SpaceX filed a petition in a DOJ administrative court to dismiss the subpoena on the grounds that it exceeded the scope of the ER’s authority, but that request was denied and SpaceX was ordered to comply. IER says SpaceX on Dec. 11 acknowledged the order, but told IER “it” does not intend to produce any additional information in response to the administrative subpoena. “
The IJ of the DOJ argues that the cited documents are relevant because they show the extent to which SpaceX hires non-US citizens and says it is not heavy, although SpaceX has told the ER that it should retrieve each document manually.
The Justice Department is asking the court for an order to require SpaceX to comply with the subpoena within two weeks.
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