Case 1:24-cv-00001 Document 19 Filed on 01/08/24 in TXSD Page 1 of 5
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`UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
`BROWNSVILLE DIVISION
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`Case No. 1:24-cv-00001
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`
`
`
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`SPACE EXPLORATION
`TECHNOLOGIES CORP.,
`
`
`Plaintiff,
`
`v.
`
`NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS
`BOARD, a federal administrative agency,
`JENNIFER ABRUZZO, in her official
`capacity as the General Counsel of the
`National Labor Relations Board, LAUREN
`M. McFERRAN, in her official capacity as
`the Chairman of the National Labor
`Relations Board, MARVIN E. KAPLAN,
`GWYNNE A. WILCOX, and DAVID M.
`PROUTY, in their official capacities as
`Board Members of the National Labor
`Relations Board, and JOHN DOE in his
`official capacity as an Administrative Law
`Judge of the National Labor Relations
`Board,
`
`Defendants.
`
`DECLARATION OF TOM MOLINE IN SUPPORT OF MOTION TO INTERVENE
`
`
`
`
`UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
`BROWNSVILLE DIVISION
`
`Case No. 1:24-cv-00001
`
`
`
`
`
`SPACE EXPLORATION
`TECHNOLOGIES CORP.,
`
`
`Plaintiff,
`
`v.
`
`NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS
`BOARD, a federal administrative agency,
`JENNIFER ABRUZZO, in her official
`capacity as the General Counsel of the
`National Labor Relations Board, LAUREN
`M. McFERRAN, in her official capacity as
`the Chairman of the National Labor
`Relations Board, MARVIN E. KAPLAN,
`GWYNNE A. WILCOX, and DAVID M.
`PROUTY, in their official capacities as
`Board Members of the National Labor
`Relations Board, and JOHN DOE in his
`official capacity as an Administrative Law
`Judge of the National Labor Relations
`Board,
`
`Defendants.
`
`DECLARATION OF TOM MOLINE IN SUPPORT OF MOTION TO INTERVENE
`
`
`
`
`Case 1:24-cv-00001 Document 19 Filed on 01/08/24 in TXSD Page 2 of 5
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`
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`I, Tom Moline, declare as follows:
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`1.
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`I have personal knowledge of the facts herein and, if called upon to testify to
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`those facts, I could and would do so competently.
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`2.
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`I currently reside in Los Angeles, California and resided in this location during
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`my entire employment with Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (“SpaceX”).
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`3.
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`4.
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`I was first employed by SpaceX in 2014 as a “Wire Harness Design Engineer.”
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`My employment was involuntarily terminated on June 16, 2022. At the time of
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`my termination my position was Senior Avionics Operations and Integration Engineer – Dragon.
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`5.
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`During my entire employment with SpaceX I worked at its headquarters which is
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`located at One Rocket Road, Hawthorne, CA 90250.
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`6.
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`On or about December 14, 2021 I became aware of published accounts by several
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`of having been sexually harassed at SpaceX, and then having been retaliated against by HR for
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`reporting it. I found these accounts very disconcerting.
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`7.
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`Separately, on or about May 19, 2022 I learned that SpaceX’s CEO Elon Musk
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`was accused of sexually harassing a SpaceX flight attendant and that in response, he publicly
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`ridiculed the alleged victim. In response to Musk’s denial and ridicule of the alleged victim,
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`SpaceX’s President, Gwynne Shotwell publicly supported Musk by sending an email to the
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`company claiming that the allegations against him were not true.
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`8.
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`In addition to these specific issues arising from the allegations concerning Musk’s
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`alleged sexual harassment, I, as a SpaceX employee, was continually bombarded with social
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`media posts by CEO Elon Musk in degrading women and the LGBTQ community that featured
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`inappropriate sexual comments and jokes. These posts were actively circulated in the workplace,
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`with many actually posted on internal SpaceX platforms, making it impossible for employees to
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`Case 1:24-cv-00001 Document 19 Filed on 01/08/24 in TXSD Page 3 of 5
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`avoid Musk’s degrading and demeaning comments. Indeed, important information about our
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`substantive work was often mixed into Musk’s Tweets, so we could not afford to ignore them.
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`9.
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`Neither SpaceX management nor its Human Relations department took corrective
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`action to remediate the hostile work environment that was created by Musk.
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`10.
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`In order to try to effectuate change in the workplace, in late May 2022, I began
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`discussing with other colleagues mechanisms for getting management to take action. I attended
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`a series of meetings at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, as well as off-hour virtual
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`teleconferences, to discuss what action we could take. I and others in the group decided to write
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`an Open Letter to SpaceX’s executive team asking that the company distance itself from Musk’s
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`social media comments—that is, make clear that those comments were not SpaceX’s own
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`position—and that it clarify and enforce an anti-harassment policy in the workplace.
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`11.
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`I, along with other SpaceX employees shared this letter internally within SpaceX
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`channels while working in California on June 15, 2022.
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`12. On June 16, 2022, SpaceX terminated my employment at an in-person meeting in
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`Hawthorne, California. The termination meeting was attended by Vice President of HR, Brian
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`Bjelde and HR Manager Rebecca Balayan, with President Gwynne Shotwell attending by video
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`conference. To the best of my knowledge, Mr. Bjelde, Ms. Balayan, and Ms. Shotwell were
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`based in Hawthorne during the events described in this declaration.
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`13. During the termination meeting the above SpaceX officials told me that my
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`employment was being terminated for my participation in conceiving of, drafting, and
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`distributing the Open Letter.
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`14. After my termination I, along with seven other colleagues who were terminated
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`over the same issue (participating in the Open Letter), retained counsel (Anne Shaver of Lieff,
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`Case 1:24-cv-00001 Document 19 Filed on 01/08/24 in TXSD Page 4 of 5
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`Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP and Laurie Burgess, Burgess Law Offices, P.C.) to file
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`charges under the NLRB on our behalf.
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`15. Our counsel filed charges of unfair labor practices with the NLRB Region 31 in
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`Los Angeles on November 16, 2022. A true and accurate copy of the charges is submitted
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`herewith as Exhibit A.
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`16.
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`I spent significant time providing evidence of SpaceX’s misconduct to NLRB
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`agents in Region 31 in Los Angeles, California. Thereafter my counsel filed amended charges
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`and on January 3, 2024 Region 31 issued a complaint with a hearing set for March 5, 2024 in
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`Los Angeles, California. A true and accurate copy of the Region 31 consolidated Complaint is
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`submitted herewith as Exhibit B.
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`17. My lawyers advised me that SpaceX filed a Complaint in Texas on January 4,
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`2024. I have reviewed that Complaint, which among other things seeks to require a “trial by
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`jury” of the allegations contained in the NLRB Complaint. In fact, SpaceX’s employment
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`agreement that I was required to execute requires all employees to forego trial by jury as a term
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`of employment by forcing me to accept arbitration of all employment-related disputes. The
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`agreement further provides that such disputes must take place “in the state of the SpaceX facility
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`in which I primarily work or in the case that I work remotely, the state of the SpaceX facility in
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`which my supervisor(s) work(s). Where the facility is in Hawthorne or Los Angeles, California,
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`the arbitration will occur in Los Angeles County, California." Therefore, pursuant to SpaceX’s
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`employment agreement any claims that involve my employment must be adjudicated in Los
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`Angeles, California.
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`18. Other mandatory employment documents mandate that legal actions with SpaceX
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`are governed by the laws of the State of California. Specifically, the “confidentiality agreement”
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`Case 1:24-cv-00001 Document 19 Filed on 01/08/24 in TXSD Page 5 of 5
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`states that “[t]he validity, interpretation, construction and performance of this Agreement shall be
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`governed by the laws of the State of California, without giving effect to the principles of conflict
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`of laws.”
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`19.
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`It would be an extreme hardship for me to participate in any litigation in the State
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`of Texas. I would have to pay the costs of travel, lodging, and meals, as well as take extra time
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`off work over and above what would normally be required to provide testimony in order to
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`travel.
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`I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States that the foregoing is
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`true and correct.
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`Executed on the 8th of January, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
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`/s/ Tom Moline
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