A group of more than 20 current and former employees are accusing Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin rocket ship company of being a toxic work environment and not adhering to proper safety protocols.
The workers claim in an essay that there's sexism at the Kent, Washington, company. The employees, led by former head of Blue Origin employee communications Alexandra Abrams, state that “numerous senior leaders have been known to be consistently inappropriate with women." They also claim that many company leaders were “unapproachable" and showed clear bias against women.
There were also safety concerns, with the group stating that Blue Origin seemed more focused on beating billionaires Richard Branson and Elon Musk to space rather than tackling safety issues that would have slowed down the schedule.
Bezos blasted into space on July 21 on the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, a date he selected for its historical significance. Bezos held fast to it, even as Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson pushed up his own flight from New Mexico and beat him to space by nine days.
The group said that last year company leaders seemed impatient with New Shepard rocket's schedule of a few flights per year, instead wanting more than 40. “Some of us felt that with the resources and staff available, leadership’s race to launch at such a breakneck speed was seriously compromising flight safety," they said.
Blue Origin said in a statement that it has no tolerance for any kind of harassment or discrimination and that it stands by its safety record. The company said it believes “New Shepard is the safest space vehicle ever designed or built."
Professional networking platform LinkedIn says it's laying off more than 700 workers and shuttering its China jobs app, in the latest round of tech industry downsizing.
Tyson Foods suffered a surprise loss in the second quarter, something not since 2009, and cut its sales forecast due to the cost of plant closures and layoffs.
Cheddar News checks in on what to look for on The Day Ahead as President Joe Biden meets with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to look to resolve the debt ceiling debate. Earnings are also slated to be reported from companies including Airbnb, AMC Networks, Electronic Arts and Nintendo.
A study on the U.S. banking system found nearly 190 banks are at risk of failure. Preston D. Cherry, founder and president of Concurrent Financial Planning, joined Cheddar News to explain the process if you have a mortgage with a bank that collapses.
Americans have bet over $220 billion on sports with legal gambling outlets in the five years since the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for all 50 states to offer it.
Melissa Brown, managing director of applied research with Qontigo, joined Cheddar News to discuss a new start to the trading week as the market edged lower in a mixed-performance day. Investors also await the meeting between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to look to resolve its debt ceiling debate.
