A 62-year-old principal engineer has alleged that Elon Musk’s space company, SpaceX sidelined him, fearing he might die or retire. The employee, John Johnson, detailed his journey for the company in a blog post. He has noted that despite achieving performance goals and working longer hours than most of his colleagues, his work roles were gradually transferred to younger engineers. Johnson revealed in a blog published at lioness.co that he had been a victim of age discrimination at Musk-led rocket company. He has also filed a complaint with the Washington State Human Rights Commission.
Johnson revealed that he was hired by SpaceX at the age of 58 in 2018 for his “deep expertise in a niche sector called optics engineering that is key to diverse applications, such as the space borne instruments used to acquire and send satellite images to Earth.” During his interview, he was asked by one of the senior members of the company about whether he will be comfortable in working with younger colleagues.
