A new lawsuit claims SpaceX routinely and illegally prevented asylum seekers and refugees from obtaining employment opportunities.
formerly known as Twitter in October 2022. Lawyers like Rebecca Bernhard, a partner at Dorsey & Whitney specializing in employment-related issues involving work visas and immigration challenges, doubt the validity of Musk’s defense.
“While it is lawful for an employer to refuse to provide employer-sponsorship to a potential employee , it is not lawful to require that the employee be a US citizen,” she explains via email. Bernhard argues that while, “There are other classes of immigrants who have work authorization in the US and do not need employer sponsorship… To require someone be a US citizen would discriminate against these individuals.
One potential exception, however, are employers subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations or the Export Administration Regulations . Bernhard notes that, “it appears the DOJ is claiming SpaceX fraudulently relied on this exception.” “While I cannot comment on whether SpaceX is subject to ITAR or EAR, I can state that the DOJ takes the anti-discrimination provisions of the INA very seriously, aggressively enforces them, and interprets the ITAR and EAR exceptions very narrowly,” adds Bernhard.
The DOJ filing seeks fair consideration and back pay for those affected by the alleged discriminatory practices.Andrew Paul is Popular Science's staff writer covering tech news. Previously, he was a regular contributor to The A.V. Club and Input, and has had recent work also featured by Rolling Stone, Fangoria, GQ, Slate, NBC, as well as McSweeney's Internet Tendency. He lives outside Indianapolis.
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