Douglas Altshuler, a 58-year-old former employee at Elon Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX, has filed a lawsuit in federal court.
Former SpaceX Employee Fired After Frequent Bathroom Breaks
He says that SpaceX fired him unfairly because of a medical condition that caused him to use the restroom often. Altshuler was working at SpaceX’s Redmond, Washington facility, where parts for the Starlink satellite system are made. He joined the company in 2023.
Altshuler has a serious medical condition called Crohn’s disease. This disease affects the digestive system and causes urgent and frequent trips to the bathroom. According to his lawsuit, he needed to use the restroom every 35 to 45 minutes, sometimes up to 14 times in a regular workday.
Even after giving SpaceX medical papers explaining his condition, Altshuler says the company didn’t help him. At first, two supervisors told him his restroom use would not be a problem. But that agreement didn’t last long. One of his managers allegedly began timing his bathroom visits and scolding him if they took longer than 10 minutes. Altshuler says he was warned that he might be fired for going to the bathroom “too often.”
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Disability Accommodations Ignored, Warnings Issued
Altshuler’s lawsuit claims that SpaceX gave him written warnings, called “occurrences,” each time he took a bathroom break that managers felt was too long or too frequent. This happened even though Altshuler had submitted medical records about his condition. He says he was punished for something he could not control, and that it went against the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
The ADA is a federal law that says employers must provide reasonable help to workers with disabilities, unless doing so would be a serious burden on the company. Altshuler believes SpaceX did not follow this law. He says the company made it hard for him to do his job by refusing to give him simple accommodations like extra bathroom breaks.
The suit also says that Altshuler was not treated fairly after he raised concerns about safety at work. He claims that some equipment was being dried in a kitchen oven, which is unsafe and against food handling rules. He also says workers may have been exposed to harmful chemicals. After he reported these problems, Altshuler says he faced retaliation.
He says that after reporting safety issues, his bosses treated him differently. He was moved to a different team and closely watched. He also got negative job reviews, which he believes were done to punish him for speaking out. According to Altshuler, this was a clear attempt to make his work environment difficult and push him to quit.
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Lawsuit Filed After Sudden Firing in January 2025
In January 2025, not long after Altshuler made formal complaints to the company’s human resources department, he was fired. SpaceX told him that the complaints he made were “unsubstantiated.” But Altshuler believes that getting fired just days after speaking out about both his medical needs and safety concerns proves that the company was retaliating against him.
His lawyer, Clive Pontusson, a former attorney with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), says the firing was not only unfair but illegal. Pontusson says workers should be able to report dangerous conditions or health-related issues without being punished or losing their jobs.
Altshuler’s lawsuit says he wants to be compensated for the emotional and financial harm caused by being fired unfairly. He is asking for both compensatory and punitive damages. These include:
- Disability discrimination: For failing to give him reasonable accommodations for his Crohn’s disease.
- Retaliation: For punishing him after he reported health and safety problems at the workplace.
- Wrongful termination: For firing him because of his medical condition and for acting as a whistleblower.
Altshuler’s lawsuit is currently being reviewed in federal court. The case has drawn attention to how large tech companies like SpaceX handle employee rights, especially when it comes to health conditions and workplace safety concerns.
