A former staff of Elon Musk’s SpaceX is suing the business for allegedly firing him over numerous restroom use caused by a severe clinical condition. According to The Independednt, Douglas Altshuler, 58, says he was mistreated and finally terminated because of Crohn’s disease — a digestive disease that often requires immediate and repeated appointments to the bathroom.
Altshuler, who joined SpaceX in 2023, filed a federal lawsuit in California last year. In it, he says he needed to use the washroom every 35 to 45 minutes during his eight-hour swings, sometimes up to 14 days a day. According to the problem, he provided medical evidence to reveal his problem, but supervisors started tracking the length of his bathroom breaks and warned him not to exceed 10 minutes per visit.
He alleges he was threatened with dismissal if his toilet usage continued. When he asked control for national apartments under disability right, he claims the demand was rejected as “unsubstantiated. ” He was eventually dismissed on grounds of “deficient performance, ” which he believes was retaliation for both his condition and for reporting unsafe workplace practices.
Altshuler’s lawsuit also accuses SpaceX of denying him food falls, underpaying him, and exposing people to unsafe circumstances. He described one incident where system components were dried in the same home where staff prepared meals.
The Mayo Clinic defines Crohn’s disease as a form of inflammatory bowel disease ( IBD ) that causes inflammation and swelling in the tissues of the digestive tract.
