A former SpaceX security manager is suing the company and one of its senior employees.
She alleges security violations and misconduct by her boss.
Lawsuit adds to ongoing investigations into SpaceX's workplace practices.
A former SpaceX security manager is suing Elon Musk’s space technology company and one of its senior employees, claiming she faced sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation. Jenna Shumway, who once held a top security role at the company, says she was unfairly treated and later fired after raising concerns about her boss, Daniel Collins. Keep reading to know the details.
SurveyShumway was hired by SpaceX in 2022 and promoted to senior contractor program security officer. In her lawsuit, she says things changed when Collins, a former Defense Department official, was hired to lead security compliance for government programs. According to Shumway’s complaint, she was not given the opportunity to apply for the director position, which was ultimately given to Collins, reports TechCrunch.
According to the complaint, Shumway’s work environment drastically changed after Collins was hired as her supervisor. She alleges that Collins launched a campaign of harassment against her, gradually removing her responsibilities over several months, which ultimately resulted in her termination in October 2024. Shumway also accuses Collins of violating top secret government protocols and hiding it from officials.
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The complaint includes allegations that Collins made inappropriate comments to women at SpaceX and looked at one employee’s chest during a meeting. He allegedly asked another woman if she wanted to “get s–tty together” after work.
Shumway says she and other women reported Collins to SpaceX’s human resources team multiple times, but the company did not take real action. Instead, they were told to avoid being alone with him.
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Collins had already been in the news in December 2024, when The New York Times reported that SpaceX was being investigated by the government for weak security practices. According to the report, Collins allowed unqualified executives into classified meetings and told employees not to report security clearance violations.
Well, this isn’t the first time SpaceX has faced legal action over allegations of sexual discrimination. Earlier lawsuits have raised similar claims of bias against female employees and described a hostile work environment that allowed gender-based harassment to persist.
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Ayushi Jain
Tech news writer by day, BGMI player by night. Combining my passion for tech and gaming to bring you the latest in both worlds. View Full Profile
