A former SpaceX security manager, who was privy to top secret information on U.S. government programs, is suing the company and one of its senior employees for alleged discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation.
Jenna Shumway, who was promoted to Senior Contractor Program Security Officer after being hired in 2022, also alleges the senior employee — Daniel Collins, a former Defense Department official hired to run security compliance for the company’s government work — violated top secret protocols and then concealed this information from the government.
Lawyers for Shumway, Collins, and SpaceX did not immediately respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.
Collins made the news in December 2024 when The New York Times reported SpaceX was under federal review for sloppy security protocols. Collins discouraged reporting security clearance violations and allowed executives without proper clearances into classified meetings, according to the NYT. This and other allegations triggered at least three federal reviews of the company’s security procedures, the NYT found.
According to Shumway’s complaint, she was passed over for the director position that Collins ultimately was hired to without being given the opportunity to apply for it. Her “work environment entirely changed” when Collins was hired as her superior in spring 2024, according to the complaint. Shumway claims Collins effectively waged a campaign of harassment against her, which included stripping her of her responsibilities over a period of months and ultimately leading to her termination in October 2024.
Collins’ harassment extended to other female employees too, the complaint alleges. The discrimination included preventing female staff from doing required security work, allegedly setting them up for non-compliance, staring at one employee’s chest during a meeting, and asking a subordinate female employee if she wanted to “get shitty together” over after-work drinks.
Shumway and other female employees repeatedly reported Collins to SpaceX Human Resources, the lawsuit states. The company ignored these complaints, the suit alleges, and didn’t take any action beyond suggesting the employees avoid being alone with Collins. Shumway is seeking unspecified damages.
This is not the first time SpaceX has been sued over claims that it enables sexual discrimination. Previous lawsuits have alleged similar stories of bias against female employees and a hostile work environment that enabled gender-based harassment. The company is also battling investigations from the California Civil Rights Department and the National Labor Relations Board over similar claims.
The lawsuit was filed in late May in the Los Angeles County Superior Court; it was later moved to federal court on June 30 at SpaceX’s request. It is filed in the federal Central District of California court under case number 2:22-cv-05959.
