A former SpaceX employee has sued Elon Musk’s company after he claims to have been fired over a symptom of a chronic medical condition.
The former staff member of SpaceX revealed that he has Crohn’s disease and claimed that supervisors monitored the amount of time he spent taking toilet breaks.
The man in question is Douglas Altshuler who has said that he would be reprimanded if wasn’t back from the bathroom within 10 minutes.
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According to the federal discrimination lawsuit that has been brought forward, Altshuler’s condition means he cannot last over 35 to 45 minutes without going to the toilet.
This resulted in him taking as many as 14 trips to the bathroom during an eight hour shift.
According to the 58-year-old, if he took longer than they deemed necessary, then his bosses ‘threatened termination if [he] used the bathroom too often’.
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Altshuler obtained a doctor’s note that outlined his condition but this was dismissed by management as being ‘unsubstantiated’, according to the lawsuit.
Representing Altshuler in the case is lawyer Clive Pontusson, who has said that SpaceX has ‘a legal responsibility’ to accommodate for its workers’ disabilities.
Speaking to the Independent, Pontusson said the law states that an employee has the right to request reasonable accommodation from their employer for a disability ‘without fear that their job will be threatened or taken away’.
He added: “The law also says that employees should be able to raise concerns about workplace safety without fear of retaliation.”
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Altshuler first started working for the American aerospace company founded by Musk in June 2023.
After an ongoing issue with his supervisors over the bathroom breaks, Altshuler made a HR complaint in December last year but was told in January that his concerns were ‘unsubstantiated’.
According to the suit, Altshuler contacted SpaceX’s HR chief after being upset that the firm had ‘dismissed his claims as being without merit despite the evidence he presented’.
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Just three days later, he was fired for ‘deficient performance’.
Now, the former employee is seeking damages, stating that the ordeal has caused him mental anguish, humiliation, pain and suffering, and a loss of enjoyment of life.
The suit goes on to argue that the complaints raised by Altshuler to SpaceX ‘regarding discrimination, retaliation and safety issues, [his] request for reasonable accommodation, and [his] workers’ compensation claim were motivating factors in the decision to terminate [his] employment’.
UNILAD Tech has reached out to SpaceX for a comment.