Lauch Pad 39A, left, leased by SpaceX, and a hangar stand at the Kennedy Space Center Sunday, July 29, 2018, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP).
A former SpaceX employee with Crohn’s disease has accused Elon Musk’s aerospace company of discrimination and harassment for allegedly keeping a strict tab on his bathroom breaks using an “electronic timekeeping system” and other methods before eventually firing him for “deficient performance.”
Douglas Altshuler, 58, filed a discrimination lawsuit last week in Washington state, claiming his SpaceX higher-ups “tracked and monitored” his restroom habits before he was axed from the company in January. The surveillance allegedly included “listening to his calls throughout the day” and tracking his work tickets, according to Altshuler’s complaint, which was included in a May 5 notice of removal to federal jurisdiction filed by the SpaceX legal team.
“In early 2024, Customer Support Supervisor Josiah Van Hoy (“Van Hoy”) began tracking Mr. Altshuler’s bathroom breaks and repeatedly criticized Plaintiff for using the bathroom,” the complaint says.
“[SpaceX] also discriminated against Plaintiff on the basis of his disability when Van Hoy told him he would receive an occurrence if he was away from his desk for more than 10 minutes,” the complaint later says.
Van Hoy is not a named defendant in the case.
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Altshuler claims he informed his supervisor and at least one other manager that he has Crohn’s disease and needs to use the bathroom every 35 to 45 minutes. He allegedly provided a “doctor’s note requesting reasonable accommodation due to his disability” and was initially told his bathroom access would not be restricted, according to the complaint.
After experiencing problems with the first supervisor, Altshuler was reassigned to a new manager, but the second one allegedly “threatened to terminate him if he used the bathroom too often,” per the complaint. Altshuler claims both supervisors “bullied and threatened” him on a weekly basis over his restroom use before he was eventually fired for alleged “deficient performance.”
In addition to his bathroom break allegations, Altshuler believes his termination was also related to safety concerns and other issues he raised in the workplace last year.
“On or about November 19, 2024 … Plaintiff reported to OSHA [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] that he had witnessed industrial parts being dried in the kitchen oven where employees cook their food,” the complaint says. “On or about December 19, 2024, Plaintiff sent an email … complaining about disability discrimination and retaliation.”
Altshuler’s lawyers say he was discriminated against “on the basis of his disability” and fired on Jan. 9. They are seeking damages for loss of enjoyment of life, pain and suffering, mental anguish, emotional distress, and humiliation. Attempts by Law&Crime to reach them and SpaceX’s legal team for comment on Thursday were unsuccessful.
