Breaking news: Trashing your employer can cost you your job.
Some SpaceX employees recently learned that lesson the hard way:
SpaceX fires at least five for letter criticizing Elon Musk https://t.co/5AlZfCkYEh pic.twitter.com/rnLDtFqDaH
— Reuters (@Reuters) June 17, 2022
At least five employees were fired by private rocket company SpaceX after drafting and circulating an open letter criticizing founder Elon Musk and calling on executives at the start-up to make the company’s work culture more inclusive, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Welp.
Insubordinate employees who wrote public letter denouncing their employer no longer burdened by his distractions and paychecks.
— Razor (@hale_razor) June 17, 2022
That’s a really positive way for the former SpaceX employees to look at it, actually!
Fuck around Find out pic.twitter.com/VQ902cnJu1
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) June 17, 2022
In a more honorable age, the "open letter from employees" used to be called a "letter of resignation." https://t.co/PY4etQFvwS
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) June 17, 2022
That’s effectively what it was.
"If you love free speech so much, why won't you let your own employees trash you in public?" — a geniushttps://t.co/ZlSeLxgJu3
— jimtreacher.substack.com (@jtLOL) June 17, 2022
We have no doubt that a lot of progressives are actually making that very argument right now. After all, Musk has made a name for himself as a free speech absolutist and suggested that he would restore free speech to Twitter if and when he takes the helm.
Recommended
How can he call himself an advocate for freedom of speech while punishing employees for speaking freely? Doesn’t this make him some kind of huge hypocrite?
Actually, no. It doesn’t.
TBF, doesn't this go against Musk's stated commitment to open speech?
He's within his rights to fire them of course. But unless they were impacting the business his attitude should have been that they're free to critique him. https://t.co/a3LNUaCQ6s
— Holden (@Holden114) June 17, 2022
We like @Holden114 (he’s a good dude whose tweets have made numerous appearances on Twitchy over the years) but we’re gonna have to side with @neontaster on this one.
How is this possibly not impacting the business? Of course it is! https://t.co/5nuz5VoAMi
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) June 17, 2022
I would agree normally. But someone who's made such a thing about speech should have a different attitude about it and shrug it off.
— Holden (@Holden114) June 17, 2022
I'm sorry, but you don't understand the concept free speech if you think this comes anywhere close to it.
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) June 17, 2022
I agree no one's rights are being violated here, if that's where we're headed.
But I think someone who's made such a show about the importance of open speech, to be consistent, should be able to take criticism without retaliation.
— Holden (@Holden114) June 17, 2022
It is entirely consistent. Employees doing this harms the business. This isn’t a free speech issue.
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) June 17, 2022
I agree it's not a free speech issue.
It's an issue of consistency with Musk's statements about the importance of an open exchange of ideas.
Everyone is pro open speech for ideas right up until they're critiqued. That's easy.
— Holden (@Holden114) June 17, 2022
I cannot wrap my brain around the fact that you think the way a business conducts itself internally is analogous to the open exchange of ideas. Does the concept of hierarchy mean nothing?
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) June 17, 2022
The fact is that Musk’s employees wrote and circulated an open letter openly trashing him and instead of getting sympathy, they got fired. This shouldn’t come as a shock to the ex-employees or to anyone else. Like @neontaster said, this is one of those f*ck-around-and-find-out situations. Pretty textbook, actually.
Anyone mad at this should be forced to tell me their age. Something tells me it'll skew heavily towards under 30. I see comments like "ok, be a suck up" as though that's the alternative to not trashing your employer in public for internet sympathy points.
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) June 17, 2022
There is no bigger capitalist bootlicker than the progressive employee who wants to trash their bosses in public but still continue making money for them because how else am I supposed to afford my bougie coastal urbanite lifestyle?
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) June 17, 2022
Tried to Google whether SpaceX has a standard Non-Disparagement Clause in employment contracts and guess what? I discovered articles calling Musk a free speech hypocrite for having them in Tesla employment contracts.
IT'S LITERALLY A STANDARD BUSINESS PRACTICE.
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) June 17, 2022
We’re trying to think of a company that would invite and encourage employees to talk trash about them in public. We can’t off the tops of our heads, but suffice it to say, we would have absolutely no respect for that company.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member