A SpaceX Employee Says He Was Fired for the Most Insane Reason

A former SpaceX employee, who suffers from Crohn's disease, says he was carefully timed every time he visited the bathroom — and fired after he took too long. According to a federal discrimination lawsuit obtained by The Independent, 58-year-old Douglas Altshuler's former managers at the Elon Musk-owned space company "threatened termination if [he] used the bathroom too often." It's a particularly egregious situation, considering the severity of Altshuler's condition. People living with Crohn's, a potentially debilitating inflammatory bowel disease, need easy access to a restroom or risk having an accident. Even after Altshuler confronted management with a doctor's note outlining […]

May 12, 2025 - 23:29

A SpaceX Employee Says He Was Fired for the Most Insane Reason

A former SpaceX employee with Crohn's disease says he was carefully timed when visiting the bathroom — and fired after he took too long.

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A former SpaceX employee who has Crohn's disease says his bathroom visits were carefully timed — and that he was fired after he took too long.

According to a federal discrimination lawsuit obtained by The Independent, 58-year-old Douglas Altshuler's former managers at the Elon Musk-owned space company "threatened termination if [he] used the bathroom too often."

It's a particularly egregious situation, considering the severity of Altshuler's condition. People living with Crohn's, a debilitating inflammatory bowel disease, often require immediate access to a restroom or risk having an accident.

Even after Altshuler confronted management with a doctor's note outlining his condition, his grievance was dismissed as "unsubstantiated," according to the suit, and he wound up being fired for "alleged deficient performance."

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The lawsuit goes far beyond his access to the restroom, alleging that the space firm denied him proper meal breaks, exposed him to toxic chemicals, and shortened his pay.

It's yet another incident highlighting the shoddy ways employees are being treated at Musk's firms, from rampant racism at his EV maker Tesla to catastrophic workplace injuries at SpaceX resulting from overlooked safety concerns.

According to a Reuters analysis last year, SpaceX's launch-and-manufacturing facilities had between five and nine times as many injuries as would be typical last year.

The firm has frequently defended itself and its mercurial owner, suing the National Labor Relations Board last year, arguing that the agency itself is unconstitutional.

According to a complaint filed with the NLRB, SpaceX fired a number of employees in 2022 after they circulated a letter, calling out his bizarre and "embarrassing" behavior.

In short, Altshuler's latest lawsuit doesn't appear to be anything out of the ordinary, as far as the space company's track record is concerned.

"The law also says that employees should be able to raise concerns about workplace safety without fear of retaliation," Altshuler's attorney Clive Pontusson told The Independent. Regulators "eventually substantiated many of Mr. Altshuler’s concerns about an unsafe work environment at SpaceX."

"The company’s actions are egregious and in clear violation of the law," he added. "Mr. Altshuler intends to seek all legal remedies that are available to him."

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