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A Falcon 9 rocket launches the Transporter-1 mission in January 2021.
SpaceX
The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Elon Musk’s SpaceX to see if the company discriminates against non-U.S. Citizens in its hiring practices, according to court documents filed Thursday.
The Immigration and Employee Rights Division of the Department of Justice received a complaint of employment discrimination from a non-U.S. Citizen claiming that the company discriminated against him on the basis of his citizenship status.
The prosecution alleges that on or around March 10, 2020, during the interview with the accusing party for the position of associate in technology strategy, SpaceX inquired about its citizenship status and ultimately failed to hire him for the job because he is not a US citizen or lawful permanent resident, ”DOJ lawyer Lisa Sandoval wrote in a complaint filed Thursday.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment. The Justice Department declined to comment.
SpaceX Headquarters in Los Angeles, California.
AaronP / Bauer-Griffin | GC Images | Getty Images
The Immigrant and Employee Rights Division (IER) said it notified SpaceX by email on June 8 that it had opened an investigation, asking SpaceX to provide information and documents relating to its processes of verification of hiring and eligibility for employment.
The complaint says SpaceX responded in August, sending the DOJ an I-9 form spreadsheet with employee information from June 2019. But SpaceX denied the DOJ’s request to “produce any supporting documentation for the form. I-9, such as employee copies, passports, driver’s licenses or social security cards, ”Sandoval wrote.
IER then obtained a subpoena on October 7, but the complaint alleges that SpaceX refused to produce the subpoenaed documents.
SpaceX filed a petition with a DOJ administrative tribunal to dismiss the subpoena on the grounds that it exceeded the scope of the IER’s authority, but that petition was dismissed and SpaceX was ordered to comply. IER says SpaceX recognized the order on Dec. 11, but told IER “that it” does not intend to produce any additional information in response to the administrative summons. “
The DOJ’s IER argues that the subpoena documents are relevant because they show the extent to which SpaceX is hiring non-U.S. Citizens and says it’s not a burden, though SpaceX has told the IER it should retrieve each document manually.
The Justice Department is asking the court for an order requiring SpaceX to comply with the subpoena within two weeks.
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