In the lawsuit filed in state court on Tuesday, Michelle Dopak, a production coordinator at SpaceX headquarters in California, claimed that company officials, including president and chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell, had disregarded her and other employees’ complaints of pervasive bias against women.
Dopak added that she was coerced into a sexual encounter that led to a pregnancy by her married supervisor. He made her an offer of $100,000 to seek an abortion, but she turned it down. According to Dopak, SpaceX then permitted him to move $3.7 million in stock options out of his name in order to avoid having to pay the plaintiff’s child support.
According to the lawsuit, Dopak is being overworked by SpaceX, trying to get her to quit even though she is entitled to accommodations to help her deal with stress at work.
A request for comment from SpaceX on Wednesday was not immediately answered.
Dopak is suing SpaceX, alleging that the company violated California law by paying her less than men with similar work and engaging in discriminatory and harassing behavior. She wants an undisclosed amount of damages. In addition to contesting a proposed class action filed in October alleging it underpays and underpromotes women and minorities compared to white men, SpaceX also filed this case.
In the meantime, a group of former engineers have filed complaints with a California civil rights agency, alleging that the corporation allows widespread harassment and discrimination against female employees.
The same engineers are being sued by SpaceX in a different case before a US labor board, alleging they were wrongfully sacked for spreading a letter that accused the company’s founder and CEO, Elon Musk, of misogyny.
The business has denied any wrongdoing and filed a lawsuit in an attempt to halt the case on the grounds that the internal enforcement procedures and the structure of the labor board are unconstitutional under the US Constitution.
In addition to contesting a proposed class action filed in October alleging it underpays and underpromotes women and minorities compared to white men, SpaceX also filed this case. In the meantime, a group of former engineers have filed complaints with a California civil rights agency, alleging that the corporation allows widespread harassment and discrimination against female employees.
The same engineers are being sued by SpaceX in a different case before a US labor board, alleging they were wrongfully sacked for spreading a letter that accused the company’s founder and CEO, Elon Musk, of misogyny.
The business has denied any wrongdoing and filed a lawsuit in an attempt to halt the case on the grounds that the internal enforcement procedures and the structure of the labor board are unconstitutional under the US Constitution.
