[ad_1]
The CEO of Jeff Bezos’ rocket company, Blue Origin, responded to reports that he promotes a “toxic” and sexist work environment, assuring employees that the rocket maker has “no tolerance for discrimination or the harassment “.
However, Blue Origin chief Bob Smith did not admit to any wrongdoing or apologize in an email to employees on Thursday.
“It’s especially difficult and painful, for me, to hear complaints that attempt to characterize our entire team in a way that doesn’t match the character and abilities I see at Blue Origin every day,” Smith wrote. .
Smith’s email came hours after 21 current and former Blue Origin employees published a letter alleging that several business executives have been “consistently inappropriate with women.” These leaders would have included a senior executive in Smith’s inner circle.
“Even so, Smith personally appointed him to the search committee to take a leadership role in human resources in 2019,” the letter said, without naming the senior executive.
Many business leaders have also shown a “clear bias against women,” according to the letter, which was signed by Alexandra Abrams, who worked as an employee communications manager at Blue Origin until 2019. The other 20 signatories were anonymous.
In Smith’s email, the CEO did not respond to any specific allegations, but told employees “we will promptly investigate any new malpractice complaints.”
Thursday’s letter also accused Blue Origin’s senior management of fostering a culture of “suppressing dissent” that has put security at risk.
“Blue Origin has been lucky that nothing has happened so far,” said an anonymous engineer who signed the letter. The letter adds that “teams are stretched beyond reasonable limits”.
Blue Origin appeared to be prioritizing beating Elon Musk and Richard Branson in the billionaire space race over security concerns, the group added.
On Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration said it would review the safety claims raised in the employee’s letter.
In Smith’s email to employees, the CEO hit back at the accusations that led to the FAA review.
“The New Shepard team went through a methodical and painstaking process to certify our vehicle for the first human theft,” wrote Smith, who has run Blue Origin since 2017. “Anyone who claims otherwise is misinformed and simply incorrect. This team is rightly proud of the work they have done and we should be too.
Asked to comment on the FAA review of safety concerns, a spokesperson for Blue Origin did not comment on the FAA review but emailed a statement about Alexandra Abrams, the only one named signatory of the letter.
“Ms. Abrams was fired for cause two years ago after repeated warnings over problems with federal export control regulations,” the spokesperson said.
Smith signed the email with “Gradatim Ferociter,” Blue Origin’s motto and a favorite phrase from his boss, Jeff Bezos.
“Basically you can’t skip steps, you have to put one foot in front of the other, things take time, there are no shortcuts but you want to do those steps with passion and ferocity,” said Bezos on the sentence.
Smith’s letter was provided to The Post by a spokesperson for Blue Origin. It was first reported by CNBC.
Additional reporting by Will Feuer
[ad_2]
Source link