Might 23 (Reuters) – A report saying Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk’s firm SpaceX paid $250,000 to settle sexual harassment claims by a flight attendant on a personal jet comes as he eyes a takeover of Twitter (TWTR.N).
Under is an summary of among the key authorized questions arising from the claims, which had been revealed on Thursday by Enterprise Insider. Musk has denied the allegations. learn extra
WHAT ARE THE CLAIMS AGAINST MUSK?
Enterprise Insider reported on Thursday that SpaceX paid $250,000 in 2018 to settle claims by an unnamed personal jet flight attendant who accused Musk of exposing himself to her. The article quoted an nameless one who stated she was a buddy of the flight attendant. The buddy had offered an announcement as a part of a personal settlement course of, based on the article.
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In Twitter posts on Thursday, Musk known as the allegations “completely unfaithful” and stated the alleged publicity “by no means occurred.” Reuters couldn’t independently verify the Enterprise Insider report.
HAS MUSK FACED ANY PAST SEXUAL HARASSMENT COMPLAINTS OR LAWSUITS?
No. There are not any different public harassment allegations in opposition to Musk.
ARE MUSK’S COMPANIES FACING SEXUAL HARASSMENT OR OTHER EMPLOYMENT LAWSUITS?
Tesla has confronted accusations of race and intercourse discrimination, together with a race bias class motion lawsuit in California state court docket and a lawsuit by California’s Division of Honest Housing and Employment, which alleges widespread race discrimination.
A minimum of seven ladies have filed sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuits in opposition to Tesla since late final yr. These lawsuits are at an early stage.
Tesla has broadly denied wrongdoing and stated it has adopted insurance policies to forestall and punish office misconduct.
Tesla is hardly distinctive in dealing with such authorized challenges; most U.S. corporations with giant workforces face some employment-related claims and lawsuits.
SpaceX will not be dealing with lawsuits over sexual harassment, regardless of a number of accusations that feminine workers have made within the media and on-line. In December, as an example, a former SpaceX engineer wrote in a weblog submit that the corporate was “rife with sexism” and that her complaints of sexual harassment had been ignored.
SpaceX has stated it rigorously investigates harassment and discrimination complaints and takes acceptable motion when an organization coverage is violated.
IS MUSK A DEFENDANT IN THE LAWSUITS AGAINST THE COMPANIES?
No. Musk will not be a defendant in any of the lawsuits. However, in a number of pending race discrimination and sexual harassment circumstances workers have accused him and different senior firm leaders of being dismissive about misconduct and of permitting hostile office circumstances to fester.
WHERE DO THE LAWSUITS STAND AND HOW HAVE THE COMPANIES RESPONDED TO THEM?
A federal choose in April awarded $15 million to a Black Tesla manufacturing unit employee who claimed he was subjected to racial slurs and racist graffiti by coworkers at a Fremont, California, manufacturing unit. Tesla has sought to pause the California company’s lawsuit, claiming it did not conduct a correct investigation earlier than suing.
A California choose is anticipated to rule quickly on Tesla’s movement to ship one of many sexual harassment lawsuits in opposition to Tesla to arbitration. The choose is presiding over 5 comparable circumstances, so his ruling may additionally have an effect on these lawsuits.
IF MUSK DID SETTLE WITH THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT, WOULD HE HAVE HAD A DUTY TO DISCLOSE IT TO SPACEX’S BOARD?
Boards have an obligation to make sure that corporations adjust to the regulation, together with legal guidelines that prohibit intercourse discrimination. Whereas board members aren’t anticipated to find out about each single allegation of rule-breaking, “they’d be anticipated to have procedures to know claims of lawbreaking straight in opposition to the CEO,” stated Ann Lipton of Tulane Legislation College.
Reuters was unable independently to find out the supply of any funds used to compensate the alleged sufferer within the SpaceX case.
WOULD TESLA’S BOARD KNOW OF THE SETTLEMENT?
Three 2016 SpaceX board members additionally served concurrently on the board of Tesla. However they’ve an obligation of confidentiality for data obtained as a director, so they could not have shared the knowledge with the Tesla board. Reuters was unable to establish whether or not these board members disclosed the settlement.
DOES TWITTER HAVE A REASON TO INVESTIGATE?
The reply is “a transparent ‘no,'” Lipton stated. Musk is a big Twitter shareholder and has sought to purchase the corporate, however when a board is promoting an organization for money, its “solely duty is to get the best value for shareholders,” she stated.
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Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York, and Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Modifying by Alexia Garamfalvi, Noeleen Walder and Daniel Wallis
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