A lawsuit filed against SpaceX alleges that HR failed a harassed employee at virtually every turn over more than a year.
Elisabeth Lockwood, a former Customer Support Associate at SpaceX’s Redmond, Washington facility, filed the case in King County Superior Court on January 23, 2026. SpaceX removed it to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington on March 2, 2026. The company has denied all allegations, and no court rulings have been issued.
What the case lays out, if the allegations hold, is less a single HR failure than a rolling series of them — the kind of sequence that should give any HR leader pause.
Lockwood alleges that beginning in late 2023, a male coworker named Teikoura Kone repeatedly commented on her appearance, followed her to the breakroom, the restroom, and her car, and on one occasion grabbed the back of her coat hood in a dark parking garage at night. She says she reported the conduct to her supervisor and to HR.
The response, according to the filing, was unusual. An HR generalist allegedly confirmed that Lockwood’s concerns were substantiated — but said there was no company policy restricting the behavior. That same HR generalist allegedly asked Lockwood to let her know if she and Kone started dating. Lockwood, who says she had repeatedly refused Kone’s advances, was offered two options: leave the company or switch to a different shift, which came with a 15 percent pay cut. The filing does not indicate that any corrective action was taken against Kone.
Lockwood accepted the shift change. But the problems, she alleges, did not stop there.
In February 2024, Lockwood fractured her finger in an on-site injury. She alleges that a manager miscategorized the injury in the benefits system and docked her pay for missed days. When she submitted a doctor’s note requesting time off for weekly physical therapy — a request that was initially approved by her supervisor and accommodations staff — another manager allegedly reversed the approval, berated her in front of coworkers for making the request, and challenged the validity of her medical records.
Lockwood says she escalated the issue. An HR director allegedly acknowledged it was wrong and promised to look into it — but then handed the matter off to a generalist, who concluded the concerns were unsubstantiated. Lockwood’s only option, she was told, was to leave.
On December 5, 2024, SpaceX terminated Lockwood, citing performance issues. She contends the reason was pretextual. The filing also alleges she was denied every internal transfer she applied for, and that managers had the ability to reject those applications on the spot.
Before filing suit, Lockwood’s attorneys sent SpaceX a demand letter valuing the claims at $680,000.
The case, Lockwood v. Space Exploration Technologies Corp., No. 2:26-cv-00723, is in its earliest stages. SpaceX has denied all claims. Nothing in the filing has been proven, and no determination has been made by the court.