San Francisco

Elon Musk-run SpaceX is being investigated in the US for discrimination and sexual harassment, the media reported.

Seven former employees alleged that SpaceX executives joked about sexual harassment and fired workers for raising concerns, according to source reports.

The California Civil Rights Department is now investigating complaints by workers that SpaceX executives discriminated against women.

In the SpaceX complaints, employees cite a pattern of discrimination, as well as inappropriate tweets by Musk that they said they could not easily avoid because he uses the platform for important company announcements. One former employee said she received a performance review accusing her of being too emotional and suggesting she should be more humble after she raised concerns about one of her male coworkers taking credit for her work, according to a filing reviewed by Bloomberg.

The same agency is also suing Tesla over charges of operating a racially segregated workplace. SpaceX or Musk were yet to comment on the investigation.

The employees previously accused SpaceX of firing them illegally in a complaint to the US National Labor Relations Board.

Earlier, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) sued Tesla for operating what it describes as a racially segregated workplace in California.

After receiving hundreds of complaints from workers, DFEH found evidence that Tesla’s Fremont factory is a racially segregated workplace where Black workers are subjected to racial slurs and discriminated against in job assignments, discipline, pay, and promotion creating a hostile work environment, DFEH director Kevin Kish had said in a statement.