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A fired SpaceX employee with Crohn’s disease has filed a lawsuit against his former employer, alleging his toilet breaks were monitored by managers who unlawfully punished him for using the bathroom too often.
Douglas Altshuler, 58, claimed his grievances about the behavior filed with SpaceX’s HR department were dismissed as “unsubstantiated,” in a filing obtained by The Independent.
Altshuler’s legal team argued he should have been given accommodations to use the bathroom “without fear of retaliation,” but noted that the customer service worker did not fill in a reasonable accommodation request form issued by HR.
His complaint cited the grievances filed with HR about the alleged discrimination and retaliation as the “motivating factors in the decision to terminate [his] employment.”
SpaceX accused of discrimination against employee with Crohn’s disease
Roughly one in 100 Americans is diagnosed with an Irritable Bowel Disease, such as Crohn’s Disease, according to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, frequently leading them to have a “debilitating urgency to use a restroom immediately.”
Altshuler, for example, must visit the bathroom approximately once every 35 to 40 minutes. During his time at SpaceX, which began in June 2023, this translated to roughly 14 toilet breaks throughout a standard eight-hour shift.
After his first six months as a customer support worker passed smoothly, Altshuler first experienced an issue in early 2024, the complaint said.
A supervisor allegedly “began tracking Mr. Altshuler’s bathroom breaks and repeatedly criticized [him] for using the bathroom,” leading the worker to secure a letter from his physician requesting a reasonable accommodation to use the bathroom every 35 to 45 minutes.
Although two managers told him that his bathroom usage would never be questioned, tracked, or restricted, Altshuler claimed that the informal promises were quickly broken, with supervisors monitoring his breaks and giving him a negative write-up if he spent more than ten minutes away from his desk.
Discrimination & retaliation fears were ‘unsubstantiated’ – SpaceX HR
The suit noted that Altshuler did not fill out a formal reasonable accommodation request form issued by SpaceX’s HR department, based on his belief that it wasn't necessary after reaching a verbal agreement with leadership that his bathroom usage “would not be restricted.”
However, with the informal agreement apparently falling through, the worker alleged his supervisors “threatened termination” if he used the bathroom too often. Meanwhile, more senior leaders that Altshuler contacted for assistance reportedly “responded with confusion.”
According to the complaint, the attempt to go over his supervisor’s heads resulted in retaliation, including a negative performance review during which his bosses raised “alleged performance deficiencies which were never brought to [Altshuler’s] attention before.”
In the last three months of 2024, Altshuler contacted HR on multiple occasions over concerns he was being bullied and that he was being threatened once again for using the toilet too often. During that period, he told SpaceX’s HR Director that he feared retaliation.
Over that period, the complaint continued, he had also taken medical leave due to debilitating “chemical exposure,” filing a workers’ compensation claim and reporting the incident to the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), something which he reportedly disclosed to SpaceX’s HR team.
In January, Altshuler was emailed by the HR department that his fears of retaliation and disability discrimination were “unsubstantiated,” a decision which the worker argued was “without merit.”
Three days later, the complaint said, Altshuler was fired for “alleged deficient performance.”
Ex-EEOC lawyer on ‘egregious’ SpaceX discrimination claims
Altshuler’s legal representative, Clive Pontusson, a former attorney for the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, told The Independent that Elon Musk's firm has a “legal responsibility” to accommodate disabilities in the workplace.
Employees like Altshuler with Crohn’s disease or other disabilities are entitled to request for reasonable accommodation “without fear that their job will be threatened or taken away,” he continued. “The law also says that employees should be able to raise concerns about workplace safety without fear of retaliation.”
Altshuler is seeking damages for back and front pay, lost benefits, and medical expenses, alongside damages for disability discrimination, retaliation, failure to accommodate, wrongful termination, and the infliction of emotional distress.
“The company’s actions are egregious and in clear violation of the law,” Pontusson added. “Mr. Altshuler intends to seek all legal remedies that are available to him.”
SpaceX did not respond to The Independent's request for comment on the lawsuit.
