SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has yet again fallen in trouble. Musk, who is in the middle of a takeover deal with Twitter, reportedly paid $250,000 (roughly Rs 1.93 crores) to settle a sexual misconduct allegation against him in 2018, a report in Business Insider has said.
According to the report, a former SpaceX flight attendant from the company’s corporate jet fleet had accused Musk of sexual misconduct while on a flight to London in Musk’s private jet. The report says that the flight attendant accused Musk of exposing his penis and rubbing her legs without her permission. The richest man on Earth also offered to buy her a horse in exchange for an erotic massage, the report, citing interviews and documents said.
The incident reportedly took place in 2016. The allegations were made in a declaration signed by a friend of the said flight attendant, who has also prepared a support in her claim. This friend of the flight attendant has shared the declaration as well as other documents with Insider. These show that the flight attendant confided in her friend that after taking the flight attendant job, she was also encouraged to get a certified masseuse course for giving massages to Elon Musk.
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It was in 2019 during a flight to London that Musk propositioned the flight attendant, according to the report. The victim apparently told her friend that in 2016, during a flight, she was asked to go to Musk’s room for a “full body massage." Upon going, she found out that Musk was “completely naked except for a sheet covering the lower half of his body." The declaration says that during the massage, “Musk exposed his genitals and then touched her, and offered to buy her a horse if she would ‘do more,’ referring to sexual favours." The attendant declined and continued with the massage without engaging in any sexual conduct, her friend was quoted as saying. “She is not going to perform sexual favors for money or gifts," she said.
The friend says that her flight attendant friend told her about the incident while they were hiking shortly after the London trip. She described that the attendant was distraught and “visibly shaken" and she didn’t know what to do.
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She also said that work started to dry up after her refusal. “"Before the incident, she regarded Mr. Musk as a person to look up to," the declaration is cited in the Insider report as saying. “But after he exposed himself, touched her without permission, and offered to pay her for sex, she was full of anxiety." The declaration also hints at the flight attendant’s shifts being cut back and she was receiving some sort of retaliation for her refusal.
It is also said that the superiors at SpaceX encouraged her to get a massage therapist course on her own time and money. “They implied that she would get to fly more often if she were to do this because she’d be able to give Elon proper massages."
It was in 2018 that the flight attendant hired a California-based lawyer and sent out a comoplaint to the comopany’s HR department detailing the episode. The attendant’s complaint was quickly attended to and a session with a mediator took place where Musk was present himself. The case reached a court and by November 2018, Musk, SpaceX, and the flight attendant agreed to a severance agreement granting a $250,000 payment in exchange for a promise to not sue over the claims. The agreement also included a non-disclosure and non-disparagement clause that bars the victim from discussing the severance package or information about Musk and his businesses.
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The friend, who has shared the details with Insider said that she decided to come forward for her friend and feels that it is an obligation to share this as a survivor of sexual assault. She did not consult her friend before taking things public, the report says.
Insider reached out to Musk for a comment, but he responded asking for more time to respond as “there is a lot more to this story." However, after the publication extended the deadline and reiterated the offer to comment, Musk did not respond. SpaceX VP for legal was also reached out, but he refused to comment on any settlement agreements.
Now, while this is the only public sexual harassment allegation against Musk personally, the companies led by him have faced the problem in the past. In December 2021, when Musk was named the Time Person of The Year, four women who previously worked at SpaceX spoke out against the sexual harassment they faced during their time with the company. Further, at least six women at Tesla have alleged sexual harassment at Tesla factories, the Insider report further said.
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SpaceX is headquartered in California, a and the state does not permit companies to require non-disclosure clauses in agreements like the one in question. The law ‘Stand Against Non-Disclosure Act’ was signed into a law in 2018, soon after the settlement agreement.
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