A female engineer at SpaceX has filed a lawsuit against the aerospace company, alleging gender and minority pay discrimination.
Ashley Foltz, the plaintiff, brought her case to the Los Angeles Superior Court, accusing the company of paying women and minority employees significantly less than their male and white counterparts.
This legal action is the latest in a series of employment-related lawsuits involving companies owned by Elon Musk.
Foltz claimed that when she was hired as a base-level engineer, her starting salary was $92,000.
However, she alleges that male colleagues with equivalent or even less experience were offered $115,000 for the same position.
In her lawsuit, Foltz argues that neither Elon Musk nor company executives have provided any valid reasons for these discriminatory pay practices.
Describing herself as one of the few female engineers at SpaceX, Foltz only became aware of the pay disparity when California’s Pay Transparency Act came into effect, requiring companies to disclose salary ranges in their job listings.
The lawsuit further delves into SpaceX’s job sorting structure, which categorizes employees into positions like “technical writer,” “engineer 1,” and “engineer 2.”
These classifications, according to the lawsuit, contribute to lower pay and hinder promotion opportunities for certain groups of employees.
Foltz alleges that SpaceX’s actions violate California labour law, and she is seeking civil penalties and monetary damages for herself and other employees affected by these discriminatory practices.
The lawsuit contends that SpaceX has devised a scheme to establish a seemingly neutral pay structure, which conceals illegal pay disparities and discourages employees from realizing they have been unfairly compensated.
SpaceX has not yet provided an official response to the lawsuit.
