WASHINGTON — SpaceX has responded to a Justice Department lawsuit concerning the company’s hiring practices with a suit of its own, arguing that the federal government’s case is unconstitutional.
SpaceX filed suit Sept. 15 against several Justice Department officials, including Attorney General Merrick Garland, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. The suit seeks dismissal of a case filed by the Justice Department Aug. 24 alleging that the corporate’s hiring practices discriminated against asylees and refugees. That case was filed with the Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer (OCAHO) within the Executive Office for Immigration Review, which handles cases related to immigration law.
SpaceX’s lawsuit relies less on the particular details of the Justice Department’s case and more on its constitutionality. The federal government’s case is being considered by an appointed administrative law judge who’s “unconstitutionally insulated from Presidential authority,” the corporate argues, adding that the case needs to be taken up in a federal court slightly than an administrative one without the correct to a jury trial.
“SpaceX denies the federal government’s allegations and has quite a few factual and legal defenses. But whether or not SpaceX violated any hiring regulations, the OCAHO proceedings are unconstitutional under binding law,” the corporate says in its suit.
The corporate filed suit within the Southern District of Texas, slightly than in California where the corporate is headquartered. The corporate cited its Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, where it received roughly 72,000 applications for 1,451 positions between September 2018 and May 2022, the period cited in the federal government’s suit. The corporate said 170 of those applicants self-identified as asylees or refugees.
One industry source said on background that SpaceX can have chosen Texas because the venue for the case to make sure any appeals are heard through the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has shown a greater tendency recently to challenge government policies.
While SpaceX’s suit relies on legal issues, the corporate denied discriminating against asylees and refugees within the hiring process. It emphasized its have to strictly adhere to export control regulations. “Every SpaceX worker has access to technology and data controlled by these statutory and regulatory regimes,” the corporate stated, adding that, in the corporate’s experience, “many candidates who self-identify as asylees or refugees usually are not the truth is asylees or refugees.”
“Nevertheless, throughout the recruitment and hiring process and across its facilities nationwide, SpaceX follows strict policies and procedures to each ensure compliance with all export control laws and regulations and in addition prevent any illegal discrimination, including discrimination against refugees and asylees,” the corporate said within the suit.