When longtime supervisor Robert Markert warned SpaceX leaders that one part of the rocket fairing recovery process could “easily cause serious injury or death,” he alleges he was ignored because “it was the more economical solution,” according to a recently filed lawsuit. A few months later, he was out of the job.
Markert is one of two former SpaceX employees who have filed separate wrongful-termination lawsuits, both of which were removed to federal court earlier this month. The two complaints make similar allegations about how speed and cost-saving triumphed over other considerations – including safety.
The lawsuits arrive as SpaceX races to get its Starship ultra-heavy rocket ready to complete missions for NASA, commercial customers, and to launch the company’s Starlink satellite internet service. Beyond the Starship program, SpaceX also operates the most frequently launched rocket in history, the Falcon 9, which has flown 87 times so far this year.
Markert spent 13 years at the company before being terminated in April. He alleges that during his tenure technicians were sometimes required to work 15 to 20 days in a row, but when he brought this up to supervisors, he was told “the schedule comes first.” That punishing schedule, performed in a high-stress environment, resulted in injuries Markert alleges the ship technicians were too afraid to report.
When Markert suggested the company prioritize trainings and certifications, he was told “there is no time for that and the company would not spend money on it,” according to the complaint.
The second lawsuit, filed by SpaceX plumber David Lavalle, alleges he was fired after the company failed to accommodate multiple work-related injuries, including a fractured foot, severe neck pain, injuries to his back and shoulders, and wrist pain. While Lavalle filed for worker’s compensation for some of these injuries, he did not do so for all for fear of retaliation, the complaint says.
Nine days after requesting medical leave for gout-induced knee pain, Lavalle was terminated. Lavalle, who is 60 years old, joined the company in 2014. He alleges in the complaint he was part of a wave of firings of older staff members, led in part by 28-year-old Scott Hiler, who SpaceX hired as a new senior manager late last year.
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A lawyer representing Markert declined comment, while Lavalle’s attorney did not immediately respond to TechCrunch’s request. SpaceX did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.
Recent reporting from TechCrunch showed that SpaceX outpaced its peers in worker injury rates for 2024. Data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration showed that the Starbase complex in Texas recorded an injury rate of 4.27 per 100 workers last year, nearly triple the aerospace manufacturing average of 1.6.
Markert, a resident of Los Angeles County, doesn’t expressly state where he worked at SpaceX. The lawsuit does note he worked with ship technicians. SpaceX’s west coast rocket fairing recovery operations count the highest injury rates of all SpaceX sites, the OSHA logs show, with an injury rate of 7.6 per 100 workers for the west coast operations.
Both complaints were filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court and were then removed by SpaceX to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
