`
`UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
`BROWNSVILLE DIVISION
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`Case No. 1:24-cv-00001
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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 SCOTT BECK IN SUPPORT OF MOTION TO INTERVENE
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`2920392.3
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`Case 1:24-cv-00001 Document 20 Filed on 01/08/24 in TXSD Page 2 of 4
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`I, Scott Beck, declare as follows:
`1.
`I have personal knowledge of the facts herein and, if called upon to testify to
`those facts, I could and would do so competently.
`2.
`I was employed by Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (“SpaceX”) full time
`beginning in 2017 as a Structures Designer.
`3.
`My employment was involuntarily terminated on June 16, 2022. At the time of
`my termination my position was Thermal Hardware Engineer II.
`4.
`During my entire employment with SpaceX I worked at its headquarters which is
`located at One Rocket Road, Hawthorne, CA 90250. During the course of my employment with
`SpaceX I lived in Los Angeles and Manhattan Beach, California.
`5.
`On or about December 14, 2021 I became aware of published accounts by several
`former employees of having been sexually harassed at SpaceX, and then having been retaliated
`against by HR for reporting it. I found these accounts very disconcerting.
`6.
`Separately, on or about May 19, 2022 I learned that SpaceX’s CEO Elon Musk
`was accused of sexually harassing a SpaceX flight attendant and that in response, he publicly
`ridiculed the alleged victim. In response to Musk’s denial and ridicule of the alleged victim,
`SpaceX’s President, Gwynne Shotwell publicly supported Musk by sending an email to the
`company claiming that the allegations against him were not true.
`7.
`In addition to these specific issues arising from the allegations concerning Musk’s
`alleged sexual harassment, I, as a SpaceX employee, was continually bombarded with social
`media posts by CEO Elon Musk in degrading women and the LGBTQ community that featured
`inappropriate sexual comments and jokes. These posts were actively circulated in the workplace,
`with many actually posted on internal SpaceX platforms, making it impossible for employees to
`avoid Musk’s degrading and demeaning comments. Indeed, important information about our
`substantive work was often mixed into Musk’s Tweets, so we could not afford to ignore them.
`8.
`Neither SpaceX management nor its Human Relations department took corrective
`action to remediate the hostile work environment that was created by Musk.
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`9.
`In order to try to effectuate change in the workplace, in late May 2022, I began
`discussing with other colleagues mechanisms for getting management to take action. I attended
`a series of meetings at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne and at nearby off-campus locations to
`discuss what action we could take. I and others in the group decided to write an Open Letter to
`SpaceX’s executive team asking that the company distance itself from Musk’s social media
`comments—that is, make clear that those comments were not SpaceX’s own position—and that
`it clarify and enforce an anti-harassment policy in the workplace.
`10.
`I, along with other SpaceX employees shared this letter internally within SpaceX
`channels from California on June 15, 2022.
`11. On June 16, 2022, SpaceX terminated my employment at an in-person meeting in
`Hawthorne, California. The termination meeting was attended by Vice President of HR, Brian
`Bjelde, HR Manager Rebecca Balayan, with President Gwynne Shotwell attending by video
`conference. To the best of my knowledge, Mr. Bjelde, Ms. Balayan, and Ms. Shotwell were
`based in Hawthorne during the events described in this declaration.
`12. During the termination meeting the above SpaceX officials told me that my
`employment was being terminated for my participation in conceiving of, drafting, and
`distributing the Open Letter.
`13. After my termination I, along with other seven other colleagues who were
`terminated over the same issue (participating in the Open Letter), retained counsel (Anne Shaver
`of Lieff, Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP and Laurie Burgess, Burgess Law Offices, P.C.) to
`file charges under the NLRB on our behalf.
`14. Our counsel filed charges of unfair labor practices with the NLRB Region 31 in
`Los Angeles on November 16, 2022.
`15.
`I spent significant time providing evidence of SpaceX’s misconduct to NLRB
`agents in Region 31 in Los Angeles, California. Thereafter my counsel filed amended charges
`and on January 3, 2024 Region 31 issued a complaint with a hearing set for March 5, 2024 in
`Los Angeles, California.
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`16. My lawyers advised me that SpaceX filed a Complaint in Texas on January 4,
`2024. I have reviewed that Complaint, which among other things seeks to require a “trial by
`jury” of the allegations contained in the NLRB Complaint. In fact, SpaceX’s employment
`agreement that I was required to execute requires all employees to forego trial by jury as a term
`of employment by forcing us to accept arbitration of all employment-related disputes. The
`agreement further provides that such disputes must take place “in the state of the SpaceX facility
`in which I primarily work or in the case that I work remotely, the state of the SpaceX facility in
`which my supervisor(s) work(s). Where the facility is in Hawthorne or Los Angeles, California,
`the arbitration will occur in Los Angeles County, California." Therefore, pursuant to SpaceX’s
`employment agreement any claims that involve my employment must be adjudicated in Los
`Angeles, California.
`17. Other mandatory employment documents mandate that legal actions with SpaceX
`are governed by the laws of the State of California. Specifically, the “confidentiality agreement”
`states that “[t]he validity, interpretation, construction and performance of this Agreement shall be
`governed by the laws of the State of California, without giving effect to the principles of conflict
`of laws.”
`18.
`It would be an extreme hardship for me to participate in any litigation in the State
`of Texas. I would have to pay the costs of travel, lodging, and meals, as well as take extra time
`off my post-graduate studies over and above what would normally be required to provide
`testimony in order to travel.
`
` I
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`
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` declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States that the foregoing is
`true and correct.
`Executed on the 8th of January, 2024 in Manhattan Beach, California.
`
`
`
`/s/ Scott Beck
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