Musk Connections: Human Resources at SpaceX
Other Corporate Affiliations: Client relations specialist at CMG Financial
DOGE Deployment: Office of Personnel Management
AS AN HR REPRESENTATIVE FOR SPACEX, STEPHEN DUARTE ASSISTED IN THE INTERROGATION AND TERMINATION OF EIGHT EMPLOYEES WHO PUBLISHED AN OPEN LETTER CRITICIZING MUSK AND THE CULTURE OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT
- According to a lawsuit against SpaceX, Stephen Duarte was flown in from Texas to California to “deal with” employees after they wrote an open letter criticizing Musk’s public behavior and the culture of sexual harassment at SpaceX. Duarte was described in the suit as a “trusted sycophant.” He was allegedly a participant in a meeting with Musk and fellow DOGE agent Brian Bjelde during which Musk demanded they fire the employees. All eight authors of the letter were subsequently terminated.
- According to a separate lawsuit, Musk allegedly sexually harassed a SpaceX flight attendant in 2016 and retaliated against her by reducing her shifts. A 2020 lawsuit filed by a former SpaceX intern alleged harassment and retaliation by her manager. Musk’s sexism in public allegedly seeped into the culture of SpaceX, where male employees would make crude jokes and ogle female employees while managers would ignore complaints about sexism.
- Duarte allegedly assisted HR Director Lindsay Chapman in interrogating some of the authors of the open letter and personally informed one of the authors that they were being placed on administrative leave. The employee was terminated the following day.
As Elon Musk’s DOGE continues to tear through agencies with little oversight or transparency, the Revolving Door Project is publishing profiles of reported DOGE employees: who they are, where they came from, and any conflicts of interest that might make their unfettered access to the federal government dangerous to the public. Read them all here.