San Francisco: SpaceX must face a lawsuit accusing it of illegally firing eight engineers who raised concerns about alleged sexual harassment and discrimination at the company after a US appeals court on Tuesday rejected its request to send the case to private arbitration.

The San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a federal judge’s ruling that the engineers’ claims were exempt from the arbitration agreements they signed at SpaceX and can continue in court.

Spokespeople for SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision.

The engineers’ attorney, Laurie Burgess, said they were “delighted” with the court’s “well-reasoned” decision.

The engineers filed the lawsuit in 2024, claiming SpaceX CEO Elon Musk ordered their firing after they circulated a letter calling the billionaire a “distraction and embarrassment” and urging executives to disavow sexually charged comments he made on social media.

The lawsuit said Musk’s conduct fostered a “pervasively sexist culture” at SpaceX where female engineers were routinely subjected to harassment and sexist comments. SpaceX has denied the allegations.

The 9th Circuit on Tuesday rejected SpaceX’s argument that the claims were not covered by a federal law that allows individuals to pursue lawsuits in “sexual harassment disputes” regardless of arbitration agreements.

Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2026