SpaceX employee sues, claims her boss offered her $100,000 to have an abortion
There is a woman filed a case against SpaceX, alleging that she was coerced into having sex by her husband’s boss, who then tried to force her to have an abortion.
Michelle Dopak, a production coordinator, claimed in the lawsuit that she and several other female employees made formal complaints about sexual discrimination in the workplace. Within six months, management had been reorganized, and Dopak was reporting to another supervisor — a married man named Anthony Brooks. He was supposedly that he forced her to start a sexual relationship with him.
According to case, “Brooks grabbed Plaintiff by the waist, pulled her against her body, and kissed her without her consent. Plaintiff was so shocked that he had, in any way, given any indication that he had any interest in Brooks or that his advances were acceptable… not only was Brooks his supervisor, but also, he made it clear that he was protected by the Company. Immediately, the plaintiff feared that if she rejected Brooks, her career would be over.
Brooks soon began complaining to Dopak about her marriage, saying she was “sexually frustrated” and “dissatisfied” with her husband. “Throughout the conversation, it became apparent through Brooks’ comments and statements that any hope Plaintiff had for promotion to Scheduler, as promised by Brooks, was directly tied to Plaintiff satisfying his requirements. sexual desire; without succumbing to his sexual advances, she would not be promoted,” the lawsuit continued, explaining that she felt that if she did not succumb to Brooks’ advances, she would lose her job at SpaceX.
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The forced intercourse resulted in a pregnancy, and she said he offered her $100,000 to have an abortion:
In or around August of 2020, the Plaintiff learned that she was pregnant with Brooks’ child. As a result, on or about August 13, 2020, Plaintiff informed Brooks of her pregnancy. Brooks stressed the Plaintiff and began asking for a doctor’s appointment to abort the child.
Later, on August 24, 2020, Brooks pulled Plaintiff into a conference room at SpaceX and again told her about her pregnancy to scare her into aborting it. When his constant threats did not work, Brooks attempted to pay Plaintiff on August 30, 2020, and offered her $100,000 to have an abortion, which Plaintiff promptly refused. Plaintiff ultimately used this situation in her favor as a way to remove herself from the abusive and coercive situation between her and Brooks. She was determined to dare to walk away from Brooks, not only for her safety but for the safety of her son.
Dopak’s lawsuit then claims that SpaceX conspired with Brooks to help Brooks avoid child support payments:
Eventually, SpaceX learned that Plaintiff was proceeding against Brooks for child support for the daughter he fathered while he was sexually harassing Plaintiff.
In response, SpaceX immediately took steps to conspire with Brooks against Plaintiff in an effort to silence Plaintiff before he could disclose his claims against SpaceX and Brooks. Specifically, SpaceX blocked Plaintiff, at every turn, from obtaining any information about Brooks, yet SpaceX managers willingly provided confidential personnel information about Plaintiff to Brooks without even served with a subpoena.
Indeed, it is clear that many SpaceX employees, including managers, voluntarily cooperated with Brooks and his attorney on behalf of SpaceX and provided confidential information about Plaintiff (including information about his medical leave) to Brooks which he can use against the Plaintiff without the need for a subpoena or providing an opportunity for the Plaintiff to contest the production of his information as required by applicable California law.
SpaceX clearly did this intentionally to retaliate against the Plaintiff and cause her severe emotional and financial stress. If that wasn’t enough, SpaceX management also conspired with Brooks to allow him to transfer his 48,289 shares of Common Stock (worth $77/share; total $3,718,253) from his name so that he could fraudulently avoid paying Plaintiff any support to the child.
Pregnancy discrimination in the workplace is not uncommon; employees at corporations such as Nike, Planned Parenthood, Google, and UPS have all claimed to have faced such discrimination. Elite athletes have also said they were forced to abort their pregnancies. Additionally, most abortions occur under some degree of coercion; one national studies found that 64% of post-abortion women felt pressured to have an abortion.
