SpaceX faces hearing on engineers fired after criticizing Elon Musk over sexism

FILE PHOTO: SpaceX logo and Elon Musk photo are seen in this illustration taken, December 19, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

(Reuters) -A U.S. labor board judge on Tuesday held a hearing in a case accusing rocket maker SpaceX of illegally firing eight engineers for criticizing CEO Elon Musk and accusing him of sexist conduct in a letter to company executives.

The case before National Labor Relations Board Administrative Law Judge Sharon Steckler in Los Angeles prompted SpaceX to file a lawsuit in January seeking to block it from going forward by claiming the board's in-house enforcement proceedings violate the U.S. Constitution.