Photo by John Schreiber.
Attorneys for a man who claims he was wrongfully fired by Space Exploration Technologies Corp. lost a bid Monday to exclude the testimony of Elon Musk on grounds the company CEO did not agree to sit first for a deposition.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William Fahey said he thought the motion brought on behalf of plaintiff Jason Blasdell, a self-described whistleblower, was premature because company lawyers have not stated they planned to call Musk as a witness.
Fahey did not rule out hearing the issues again just before trial if SpaceX attorneys say they plan to call Musk to the stand after all. SpaceX attorney Lynne Hermle said Musk is not likely to testify, but added that could change if circumstances warrant him doing so.
Blasdell’s lawyer, Carney Shegerian, said his client would be prejudiced by a last-minute SpaceX decision to have Musk — who he called an “extremely bright and famous man” — testify because trial is scheduled for May 22 and he needs sufficient time to prepare.
Musk, a 45-year-old billionaire, also is the CEO of Tesla Inc.
Shegerian and Blasdell’s other lawyers say in their court papers that Musk has “unique knowledge of facts directly probative to Blasdell’s whistleblowing” and that it would be unfair to allow him to take the stand during the trial because they were denied the chance to prepare for his testimony via a deposition.
Fahey ruled in February that Musk could not be deposed, but ordered him to respond to written questions. SpaceX attorneys told the judge that Musk has already responded to those inquiries. The judge cited a 1992 California Court of Appeals ruling that less-intrusive methods must be used before a plaintiff can depose the “apex” individual in charge of a business.
Blasdell worked at the rocket and spacecraft manufacturer’s Hawthorne headquarters as an avionics test technician from 2010 until his 2014 firing, according to his lawsuit filed in April 2016.
Blasdell says he received consistently positive reviews from management for his work. However, he began seeing safety issues related to the testing procedures of rocket parts, leading him to question the quality of the testing and the risks it posed for not just the rockets potentially exploding, but for the potential loss of human life as well, according to his attorneys’ court papers.
Blasdell claims he complained to SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, Musk and to the company’s human resources department, alleging there were potentially dangerous deviations from protocol that his managers were pressuring test technicians to make.
Shotwell told Blasdell during an October 2013 meeting that she would investigate his concerns and hire an outside consultant to investigate, according to the plaintiff’s court papers.
Blasdell followed up in early 2014 when he inquired of Shotwell by email whether the consultant had been hired, his attorneys maintain.
“Ms. Shotwell never responded to plaintiff’s inquiry, but instead wrote a separate email to plaintiff criticizing the manner in which plaintiff communicated with management,” according to Blasdell’s court papers, which say he was fired in April 2014 for being “disruptive.”
In their court papers, SpaceX attorneys called Blasdell’s lawsuit “baseless.”
—City News Service
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