SpaceX manager forced female staffer to have unprotected sex with him twice a week then tried to bribe her with $100,000 for an abortion when she became pregnant with his child, lawsuit claims

A former SpaceX employee claimed her manager forced her to have an affair and offered her money for an abortion when she got pregnant with his child.

A lawsuit filed on Tuesday said that any hope the plaintiff, Michelle Dopak, had of being promoted was dependent upon her sexually satisfying her manager, Anthony Brooks.

Dopak allegedly gave in to his advances because she feared her career at SpaceX in Los Angeles would be over if she didn’t comply.

But Brooks' behavior became increasingly coercive when he showed up at Dopak's home and demanded she have sex with him and sent her text messages that he wanted her to 'make him c**,' according to the lawsuit.

When Dopak became pregnant with Brooks' child, he allegedly tried to bribe her $100,000 to get an abortion.

Female SpaceX employee claims she was forced to have an affair with her manager who tried to bribe her with $100,000 to have an abortion when she got pregnant with his child

Michelle Dopak started working at SpaceX in 2017 and reportedly went above and beyond for a promotion, but claimed Brooks passed her over in favor of hiring male employees, claiming she received sexist treatment and was paid less than her male co-workers.

In June 2019, Dopak said she and the team traveled to SpaceX’s worksite in Vandenberg, California, to watch a rocket launch and accused Brooks of sexually assaulted her during the trip.

The lawsuit claimed Brooks insisted on driving alone with Dopak, and when she stopped to charge her car, he ‘grabbed [Dopak] by the waist, pulled her against his body, and kissed her without her permission.’

Brooks then allegedly insisted he drive back to the office with Dopak but forced her to divert through Santa Barbara, and while on the drive, told her he was married but was ‘sexually frustrated and dissatisfied in his marriage.’

Two weeks after that conversation, Brooks reportedly called Dopak and told her he was coming to her house to have sex, and allegedly ‘forced [her] to have unprotected sex with him, despite [Dopak’s] objections.’

The lawsuit claimed that Brooks sent her sexually explicit text messages while making it clear that he was protected from any harassment claims at SpaceX because the company’s Vice President Andy Lambert recruited him. 

It added that Brooks allegedly ‘manipulated’ and ‘forced’ Dopak to have unprotected sex one to two times every week and would send her sexual text messages including ‘I’d like to bend you over the desk and c** deep inside of you…,’ ‘Thinking of you always makes me horny,’ and ‘I could just f*** you over my desk.’

Less than two months after the alleged affair with Brooks started, Dopak said she was offered her promotion which retroactively went into effect on June 23, shortly after the alleged harassment started.

‘The message and date were not lost on Plaintiff as Brooks was clearly sending a message to Plaintiff that the position was only received because she submitted to him,’ the lawsuit said.

It continued: ‘She felt that her career was in his hands, such that if she did not continue to submit to him, her dream career would be over at SpaceX.’

The affair reportedly continued until August 2020, when Dopak told Brooks she was pregnant with his baby but claimed he ‘verbally berated’ her and allegedly demanded that she abort the child.

Elon Musk is the CEO of SpaceX and his company has previously been accused of discriminating against women 

The lawsuit claimed Brooks tried to bribe Dopak with $100,000 to have an abortion, which she rejected, but told him she wouldn't tell anyone about the bribe and would continue to keep the affair a secret.

According to the lawsuit, when Dopak finally informed Brooks’ wife, Helen, of the pregnancy and affair, Helen retaliated by reportedly sent messages containing details of the affair to SpaceX staff and management.

Dopak claimed that SpaceX colluded with Brooks to transfer 48,289 shares of his company stocks – amounting to roughly $3.7 million so he could ‘fraudulently avoid paying [Dopak] any child support.’

READ MORE: Elon Musk 'paid SpaceX flight attendant $250,000 to settle claim he propositioned her for sex 

Musk was accused of exposing himself to the flight attendant, rubbing her leg and offering gifts in exchange for a massage 

Even after Brooks left SpaceX in 2022, Dopak took a leave of absence for the second half of 2022 to deal with the emotional toll of the events. 

But upon her return, the lawsuit said Kopak received a lower individual performance score for her annual review by her new supervisor Christopher Wang – who is also a defendant in the lawsuit.

Wang reportedly told her that the reason she received a lower performance score was because she needed ‘to “[m]inimiz[e] the impact of personal matters into her professional work.’

‘Oftentimes, she was very distracted by personal matters that it affected her performance and ability to work; she should more clearly communicate when the matters are overly distressing and opt to take the time off instead.’

Dopak is accusing SpaceX, Brooks, Wang, and other managers of violating California’s FEHA law for separate counts of harassment, discrimination, retaliation, failure to prevent discrimination, harassment and retaliation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and retaliation in violation of California’s labor code.

It also includes counts of whistleblower retaliation, violating California’s Equal Pay Act, violating California’s Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, and unlawful business practices.

The lawsuit doesn’t state a specified amount of money but said Dopak is demanding compensation for lost wages, damages for mental pain, anguish, and emotional distress, and is seeking damages ‘to punish defendants’ for the alleged wrongful conduct and ‘to deter such conduct in the future.’

Dailymail.com has reached out to SpaceX and Dopak’s attorneys for comment.

SpaceX is also facing other class action lawsuits over alleged pay and promotion inequality against women and minors, and was sued by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in January for firing employees who wrote a letter criticizing CEO Elon Musk.

The company has denied all wrongdoing and sued the NLRB, claiming its lawsuit was unconstitutional.