SpaceX sues US labor board after it alleged unlawful firings
The spacecraft and satellite communications company owned by billionaire Elon Musk has sued the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), alleging the agency’s structure violates the Constitution.
The moves comes after the NLRB filed a complaint against SpaceX Wednesday, accusing the company of unlawfully firing eight employees who drafted and circulated an open letter detailing workplace concerns.
The SpaceX suit describes the NLRB complaint as “unlawful,” claiming the agency’s structure violates Article 2 of the Constitution and the Fifth and Seventh amendments, The Hill’s Nick Robertson reported.
The company argues that because only board members and administrative judges can be removed by the president — and not all employees — the agency’s structure is unconstitutional.
“The existence of unconstitutional removal protections inflicts twofold harm. It limits the President’s constitutional authority, of course,” the suit reads. “But it also produces an administrative bureaucracy that operates on regulated parties without the constitutionally required ‘degree of electoral accountability.’”
More than 1,000 additional auto dealers have registered for the point-of-sale electric vehicle tax credit since it became available Jan. 1, the Treasury Department confirmed Friday morning. Treasury officials told reporters that as of Friday, more than 8,700 dealers had registered for the credit, up from the 7,400 announced in late December. Alterations to the credit under the Inflation Reduction Act allow electric vehicle …
BEIJING (AP) — Tesla is recalling more than 1.6 million Model S, X, 3 and Y electric vehicles exported to China for problems with their automatic assisted steering and door latch controls. China’s State Administration for Market Regulation announced the recall on Friday. It said Tesla Motors in Beijing and Shanghai would use remote upgrades to fix the problems, so in most cases car owners would not need to visit Tesla service …
(NEXSTAR) – Verizon customers may be entitled to a piece of a $100 million sum the company agreed to pay to settle a class action lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges Verizon customers were hit with an administrative charge as part of a “deceptive scheme.” Verizon denies any wrongdoing, but has agreed to pay affected users up to $100 each. The group of people who qualify includes all Verizon customers, current or former, …
News we’ve flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics:
Microsoft, OpenAI sued by non-fiction authors
Microsoft and OpenAI are facing a lawsuit from two non-fiction book authors over allegations that the tech companies stole the writers’ copyrighted work to train their artificial intelligence systems, CNBC reported.
Biden admin inches closer to Apple lawsuit
The Justice Department could file an antitrust lawsuit as soon as the first half of this year against Apple over allegations targeting how the tech giant used control over its hardware and software to maintain dominance of the iPhone, The New York Times reported.
On Our Radar
Upcoming news themes and events we’re watching:
Public Citizen will host a fireside chat with Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler and a panel of experts about artificial intelligence and banking on Jan. 17 at 1 p.m.
In Other News
Branch out with other reads on The Hill:
Official suggests Polish president check social media security after odd tweet from private account
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s minister of digital affairs suggested Friday that President Andrzej Duda check the security of access to his social accounts after a bizarre tweet went out that was almost immediately removed. The tweet published Thursday on Duda’s private account said: …
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is considering trying to negotiate directly with the White House on border policy changes that have so far been confined … Read more
Greta Van Susteren, a host on conservative cable channel Newsmax, questioned Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) on the timing of the ongoing House GOP impeachment … Read more
