Tesla is not the one firm in Elon Musk’s portfolio to have points with sexual harassment. Women who beforehand labored at SpaceX, together with mission engineer Ashley Kosak and 4 others talking to The Verge, have accused the corporate of doing little to cease sexual harassment. Male employees reportedly made quite a few undesirable advances, lewd feedback and bodily contact. Kosak claimed one coworker went as far as to go to her home and demand on touching her, whereas former intern Julia CrowleyFarenga (who sued SpaceX in 2020) stated a male worker blocked her from getting employed after she reported his controlling habits.
SpaceX was allegedly reluctant to take vital motion. While the ladies did report incidents to SpaceX’s human assets, the corporate seemed to be extra excited about conserving the corporate’s plans on observe than on coping with harassment. HR requested Kosak to suggest options to sexual harassment, however there was no follow-up — and each HR lead Brian Bjelde in addition to firm president Gwynne Shotwell have been apparently unaware of her allegations when she met them.
We’ve requested SpaceX for remark. In an e-mail The Verge obtained, nevertheless, Shotwell was conscious of Kosak’s net essay on the matter and stated HR would conduct each in-house and impartial audits of its practices. She additionally reiterated SpaceX’s “no A-hole” coverage and that targets of harassment ought to nonetheless report incidents to HR or managers. Shotwell did not contact on issues of retaliation, although, and the information got here simply as six extra Tesla employees sued over sexual harassment claims.
All of the affected girls pinned the issues on a management and firm tradition that prioritized the mission over employees’ wellbeing. Elon Musk sees engineers as a “resource to be mined,” Kosak stated, reasonably than folks to be cared for. Throw in an overwhelmingly male workforce that leaves girls remoted (one complainant likened it to a “boys’ club”) and ladies might have little probability of meaningfully addressing harassment. If that is the case, any long-term options might require administration and coverage modifications, not simply higher enforcement of the insurance policies that exist.
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