Lawsuit alleges SpaceX is wrong when it says it legally can hire only American citizens and green card holders

“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,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “Our investigation also found that SpaceX recruiters and high-level officials took actions that actively discouraged asylees and refugees from seeking work opportunities at the company.”

SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment. SpaceX officials have for years asserted in interviews that its hiring practices were dictated by the requirements of a federal law known as the International Traffic in Arms Regulation.

Like many rocket companies, SpaceX takes ITAR seriously. It closely guards access to its manufacturing facilities and limits what outside photographers and videographers can shoot for fear of sensitive designs being made public. The work SpaceX and other space companies do is so sensitive that recently the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, the FBI and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations issued a joint bulletin about foreign intelligence threats to the U.S. space industry.

In the bulletin, the agencies said foreign intelligence entities “recognize the importance of the commercial space industry to the U.S. economy and national security, including the growing dependence of critical infrastructure on space-based assets. They see U.S. space related innovation and assets as potential threats as well as valuable opportunities to acquire vital technologies and expertise.” As a result, adversaries use “cyberattacks, strategic investments (including joint ventures and acquisitions), targeting of key supply chain nodes, and other techniques to access and exploit the U.S. space industry.” But the bulletin said nothing about hiring as a potential concern.

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, an industry group to which SpaceX belongs, declined to comment on the lawsuit. But in a statement, it noted that its members take the rules of ITAR seriously. “ITAR applies to everything AIAA does and the Institute carefully assures we operate within the ITAR requirements,” the statement said.

In its lawsuit, the Justice Department said it opened its investigation in 2020 “and found reasonable cause to believe that SpaceX had engaged in a pattern or practice of unfair immigration-related employment practices.” In one instance, the lawsuit says, Musk, SpaceX’s founder and chief executive, posted on Twitter in 2020 that “U.S. law requires at least a green card to be hired at SpaceX, as rockets are advanced weapons technology.” Investigators also found at least 14 public announcements “stating that SpaceX can only hire U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents” because of the International Traffic in Arms Regulation, the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit says that, according to SpaceX data, the company hired only one person out of more than 10,000 hires “who was an asylee and identified as such in his application.” SpaceX made that hire, the lawsuit asserts, about four months after the Immigrant and Employee Rights Section at the Justice Department had notified the company of its investigation. The lawsuit notes that SpaceX hires for “a wide variety of positions” including “welders, cooks, crane operators, information technology specialists, software engineers, dishwashers, business analysts, rocket engineers, marketing professionals, baristas, and more.”

SpaceX in recent years has become one of the top suppliers for NASA and the Pentagon and a trusted partner to launch American astronauts to the International Space Station, as well as sensitive national security satellites. SpaceX is scheduled to launch its seventh crew rotation mission to the station Friday morning. The Pentagon has also awarded SpaceX a contract to operate its Starlink internet satellite network in Ukraine, where it has been a key communications tool for the Ukrainian military.

Clarke said the Justice Department intends to “hold SpaceX accountable for its illegal employment practices and seek relief that allows asylees and refugees to fairly compete for job opportunities and contribute their talents to SpaceX’s workforce.” Clarke added that “asylees and refugees have overcome many obstacles in their lives, and unlawful employment discrimination based on their citizenship status should not be one of them.”

The lawsuit seeks an order for SpaceX to hire qualified applicants it wrongly said were ineligible and to pay “an appropriate civil penalty as determined by the Administrative Law Judge for each individual discriminated against.” Over the years, the company, based in Hawthorne, Calif., has grown rapidly and has about 11,000 employees at locations in California, Florida, Texas, Washington state and the District of Columbia.

This is not the first time a Musk company has faced bias accusations. Tesla, the electric vehicle manufacturer Musk leads, for years has battled lawsuits alleging workplace discrimination against its Black employees, including one filed by the California state workplace regulator last year. In April, a judge ordered the company to pay a Black former employee more than $3 million. And in June, about 240 Black Tesla workers filed for class-action status in a case alleging rampant racism at the Fremont, Calif., factory.

Tesla also has faced lawsuits alleging sexual harassment, and former Twitter employees filed a suit this month alleging that the layoffs had discriminated based on gender, race and age. Twitter workers in Africa and Twitter workers with disabilities have also sued. SpaceX has faced claims of age discrimination in the past.

Will Oremus contributed to this report.