SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is attending a press conference following the launch of a press site at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 30, 2020 following the launch of the SpaceX Demo-2 mission on the International Space Station.
NASA / Kim Shiflet
SpaceX President and CEO Gwyn Shotwell defended Ilona Maska in an email to employees last week in response to allegations of sexual misconduct against the CEO, CNBC reports.
“Personally, I consider the accusations false; not because I work for Ilona, but because I have worked closely with him for 20 years and have never seen or heard anything like these accusations, ”Shotwell wrote in an email to the entire company sent out on Friday and saw CNBC.
Musk has denied allegations alleging he proposed to a flight attendant aboard one of SpaceX’s private jets in 2016. Musk told Business Insider, which reported the allegations, and that the flight attendants paid $ 250,000 in severance pay after the collision with the company, which is “much more in this story,” describing it as a “politically motivated hit.” Neither Musk nor SpaceX Vice President of Legal Affairs Christopher Kardachi denied payment in Business Insider statements.
Shotwell stressed in her email that she “will never comment on any legal issues related to employment” before noting that Musk has publicly denied the allegations as “completely untrue” on Twitter.
Shotwell, second on the SpaceX team and a leading woman in the company, also noted that SpaceX pursues a policy of “zero tolerance” for harassment, adding that every accusation is taken seriously and investigated, “regardless of who is involved.”
SpaceX did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on Shotwell’s email.
President of SpaceX and CEO Gwyn Shotwell
Jay Westcott / NASA
