A wrongful termination lawsuit alleges Blue Origin LLC violated several labor codes, and the plaintiff demanded a jury trial.

The Case: Craig Stoker v. Blue Origin LLC

The Court: Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles Central District

The Case No.: 23STCV28816

The Plaintiff: Stoker v. Blue Origin LLC

The plaintiff in the case, Craig Stoker, is the former program manager of Blue Origin's BE-4 rocket engines and primarily worked out of the company's Woodland Hills, California location. Stoker filed a wrongful termination complaint in Los Angeles County Superior Court, including a detailed narrative about Stoker's efforts (over seven months) to escalate concerns about safety and a hostile work environment at Blue Origin.

The Defendant: Stoker v. Blue Origin LLC

The defendant in the case, Blue Origin LLC, allegedly "brushed off" multiple complaints regarding CEO Bob Smith's explosive response to employees when issues frequently led to employees violating safety protocol to meet unreasonable expectations and impossible deadlines. According to court documents, Blue Origin was working on fulfilling a contract with ULA that required communicating any issues that could impact rocket engine delivery a year in advance. While Stoker wanted to communicate information regarding a probable delay to ULA, Smith allegedly instructed him not to do so. After concluding an internal investigation, Blue Origin decided that Smith did not violate company policies or create a hostile work environment. Stoker objected. He also claims in the lawsuit that he later found out no one from the engine program was interviewed as part of the internal investigation. Stoker was terminated seven months after initially raising his safety concerns.

The Case: Stoker v. Blue Origin LLC

In the case Stoker v. Blue Origin LLC, Stoker claims he was wrongfully terminated in response to his complaints regarding the company's CEO creating a hostile work environment that caused employees to disregard safety measures to meet unreasonable deadlines on projects. While the company states their internal investigation found that Smith did not violate company policy or create a hostile work environment, Blue Origin announced Smith was stepping down from his role as CEO in September (after a tenure of close to six years). His tenure was marked by numerous successes, including growing the team from less than 1,000 people to over 12,000 and landing multiple high-profile and high-value contracts with NASA. However, his tenure was also not without serious controversy. In addition to Stoker's claims, Smith faced allegations of supporting a culture of sexism among senior executives at the company.

If you have questions about filing a California wrongful termination lawsuit, don't hesitate to contact Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP. Experienced employment law attorneys are ready to assist you in various law firm offices in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Chicago.