SpaceX has fired employees who wrote an open letter criticizing Elon Musk’s behavior.
The letter, which is being discussed openly in an internal chat system, is accepting signatures from employees of the spacecraft company, who will forward it along to the desk of SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell. The letter reads:
“Elon’s behavior in the public sphere has been a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment to us, especially in recent weeks,” reads the letter, which was spotted by the news outlet. “As our CEO and most prominent spokesperson, Elon is seen as the face of SpaceX – every tweet that Elon sends is a genuine public statement by the company. It is important to make this clear to our teams and our potential talent pool.” that their message does not reflect our work, our mission, or our values.”
The letter was delivered to the desk of SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, and by Thursday afternoon SpaceX had fired some of the letter’s organizers, new York Times Report.
Gwynne Shotwell, the President of SpaceX, in an e-mail said that the company had “terminated several employees involved” with the letter.
Ms. Shotwell wrote, “The letter, solicitation and normal process made employees feel uncomfortable, bullied and intimidated, and/or annoyed because the letter pressured them to sign something that did not reflect their views.”
“We have much more important tasks to complete and there is no need for such hyperactivity.” It is not clear how many employees were fired. The letter asked that SpaceX leaders “publicly address and condemn Elon’s harmful Twitter behavior” and “define and respond to all forms of equally unacceptable behavior.”
In her email, Ms. Shotwell said: “It is not acceptable to repeatedly blanket thousands of people in the company with unsolicited emails asking them to sign letters and fill out non-sponsored surveys during the work day.”
She continued: “Please focus on the SpaceX mission, and use your time to do your best… that’s how we get to Mars.”
At the time of filing this report, it’s unclear how many employees were fired. What do you think – is it right for a company to sack those who express displeasure with their employers? Kindly share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.