U.S. Justice Department probes SpaceX after hiring discrimination complaint

(Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice is probing Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX over whether the company discriminates against non-U.S. citizens in its hiring, according to court documents filed on Thursday.

The Justice Department's Immigrant and Employee Rights division received a complaint of employment discrimination from a non-U.S. citizen, who alleged that SpaceX discriminated against him based on his citizenship status.

"Specifically, the charge alleges that on or about March 10, 2020, during the Charging Party's interview for the position of Technology Strategy Associate, SpaceX made inquiries about his citizenship status and ultimately failed to hire him for the position because he is not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident", DOJ attorney Lisa Sandoval wrote in the complaint filed on Thursday.

The Immigrant and Employee Rights division of the DOJ notified SpaceX by email on June 8 that it had opened an investigation, and requested that SpaceX provide information and documents relating to its hiring process, according to the court filings made on Thursday.

The filings were made in the United States District Court for the central district of California.

The Justice Department and SpaceX did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler and Stephen Coates)