the executives of SpaceX break the silence. In a recent interview with CNBC, the company’s president said: openly defended Elon Musk against sexual harassment allegations appeared last week. “I personally believe the allegations are false,” said Gwynne Shotwell. “Not because I work for Elon, but because I’ve worked closely with him for the past 20 years and have never seen or heard anything even close to these allegations.”
Last week, a Business Insider article accused Elon Musk of inappropriate conduct with an on-duty flight attendant on a SpaceX private jet. In 2018, the company reportedly agreed to a payment of $250,000 to silence the allegations.
Elon Musk disputed the reconstruction of the events, arguing that the allegation was “completely false”. The founder of Tesla and SpaceX accused Business Inisder of creating a case out of thin air to attack his political views. The day before the article came out, Elon Musk said he wanted to vote for the Republican party.
Neither Musk nor the SpaceX executives denied the settlement in favor of the woman. However, it is important to underline that it is very common in the United States of America to end legal proceedings out of court, ie not in court but through mediation. It is often about costs and benefits: if there is a well-founded suspicion that the cause could cause significant damage to the company, for example by stretching it for many years or causing reputation damage, it is preferable to pay off an amount speak close the case and do not bring it before the judges. Usually, an NDA is also signed, which is an agreement that obliges the two parties not to disclose to anyone what has happened.
During the interview Gwynne Shotwell he also reiterated that SpaceX has a zero-tolerance policy on sexual harassment and that every complaint is thoroughly investigated by the company, “regardless of who the accused is.”
Source: Lega Nerd
