Elon Musk's SpaceX company has received a complaint from the NLRB about the dismissal

The National Labor Relations Board accused SpaceX in a new complaint of entering into illegal separation agreements with terminated employees across the country.

The unfair labor practices complaint comes two months after SpaceX filed a federal lawsuit challenging the legitimacy of the NLRB watchdog, and after the federal agency in a separate complaint accused the company of illegally firing eight workers who criticized its CEO Elon Musk in an open letter. letter.

The new NLRB complaint alleges that SpaceX included illegal confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses in its severance agreements and that it unlawfully limited the ability of terminated workers to participate in further claims against the company.

It also alleges that the rocket maker and satellite internet company maintained an illegal rule requiring workers — as a condition of their employment — to sign an agreement to arbitrate and resolve disputes, waiving their right to receive money in a dismissal. – Filing lawsuits against the company.

One section of the separation agreement states: “You agree not to provide assistance to any current, former or future employee of SpaceX with respect to any complaints, concerns, claims or actions of any kind against the company, whether individual, class or collective.” “The action is unless compelled to do so by a valid subpoena or court order,” the complaint noted.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday by the NLRB's Seattle Regional Director for District 19, alleges that “the provisions of this unlawful employment agreement interfere with, restrict, and coerce employees from exercising rights guaranteed in the National Labor Relations Act,” the agency said. he said in an email.

If SpaceX does not settle the case, the complaint will be heard by an NLRB administrative law judge in Seattle on October 29.

Any final decision in this case may be appealed to the Federal Court.

As part of the complaint, the agency's general counsel is seeking an order from a session judge requiring SpaceX to void its severance agreements and class action waivers, and to broadly notify workers of the Employee Rights Notice.

SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC regarding the complaint. The company must file a response with the NLRB by April 3.

The action is the latest in a series of battles between Musk's companies and the NLRB.

In a previous complaint against SpaceX filed on January 3, the NLRB alleged that the company violated workers' rights by firing eight employees for sending a letter in June 2022 to company executives, calling Musk a “distraction and embarrassment.”

The letter focused on a series of tweets Musk posted since 2020, many of which were sexually suggestive.

All but one of the fired people worked at SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorne, California.

One day after filing the NLRB complaint, SpaceX filed a lawsuit against the NLRB in federal court in Texas. The company claimed that the NLRB's structure violated the U.S. Constitution.

Grocery store chain Trader Joe's and online retail giant Amazon have both challenged the legality of the NLRB's structure on these grounds in separate actions.

In October, the NLRB accused Musk's social media company X of violating the law by firing an employee who criticized the company's return-to-work policy. The worker, Yao Yu, was fired after trying to organize other workers at the company over those concerns, the complaint says.

X was known as Twitter before Musk bought it.

The NLRB's home page lists eight open cases against it Teslathe electric car maker of which Musk serves as CEO.

Musk scored a win over the NLRB last year as the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit overturned a decision against Tesla by an NLRB administrative law judge.

An NLRB judge declared that Tesla's uniform policy violated workers' rights to wear clothing emblazoned with pro-union logos and slogans.