Blue Origin Employees Say Jeff Bezos Company Has Toxic Culture, Safety Issues

Amazon.com Inc. AMZN founder Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin has been accused by former and current employees of having a toxic culture.

What Happened: “In our experience, Blue Origin’s culture sits on a foundation that ignores the plight of our planet, turns a blind eye to sexism, is not sufficiently attuned to safety concerns, and silences those who seek to correct wrongs,” 21 current and former Blue Origin employees alleged in an essay published on the Lioness website.

The essay, which was signed publicly by Alexandra Abrams, former Blue Origin head of employee communications, also said that many of the essay’s authors would not fly on a Blue Origin vehicle due to safety concerns.

The essay notes that while workforce gender gaps are common in the space industry, they also manifest in a “particular brand of sexism” at Blue Origin. It alleges that numerous senior leaders were known to be consistently inappropriate with women.

Why It Matters: The essay comes just a couple of months after Bezos blasted his way into space on the first crewed flight of New Shepard, the rocket built by Blue Origin. The company failed to win a lunar lander contract from NASA and sued the space agency in August.

Blue Origin joins other companies such as Walt Disney Co. DIS and Apple Inc. AAPL that have been recently accused of failing to take action against complaints by employees of sexual harassment.

Price Action: Amazon.com shares closed almost 0.5% lower in Thursday’s regular trading session at $3285.04, but rose 0.1% in the after-hours session to $3289.00.

Photo: Courtesy of MadeYourReadThis on Wikimedia

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