In addition, this employee also accused the work environment of being “toxic” and 𝓈ℯ𝓍ist.

According to the lawsuit filed in California state court, employee Lindsay Short said that after moving to the company’s headquarters in Fremont, California in August 2022, she faced “a work environment rife with accusations, criticism and impossible deadlines”. She also accused Neuralink of firing her after she announced her pregnancy.

Short alleges she was forced to work with monkeys carrying the Herpes B virus in conditions without proper protective gear. According to the lawsuit, during one job, the monkey scratched Short’s gloves. In another incident, after being forced to perform a procedure she was unfamiliar with, a monkey scratched her face. When Short requested medical treatment, her boss threatened “serious consequences” if it happened again.

The lawsuit also accuses Neuralink of not honoring its promise to allow Short flexible work hours to take care of her family, then demoting her in May 2023, just two months after being promoted.

A monkey in Neuralink’s research room plays the game Pong

The following month, Short informed Neuralink’s human resources department that she was pregnant. According to the lawsuit, Short was fired the next day, citing performance issues.

The lawsuit accuses Neuralink of retaliation, illegal discharge and gender-based discrimination against Ms. Short. Currently, Neuralink has not yet officially responded to the lawsuit.

Neuralink is in the early stages of clinical testing of a brain implant device to restore function for paralyzed patients. Recently, an Arizona man, Noland Arbaugh, became the first patient to have the device implanted. Arbaugh, who is a quadriplegic, can now play video games using only his thoughts.

However, the company has also been criticized for mistreating laboratory animals in the past, including botched surgeries on monkeys housed at the University of California, Davis. Since then, Neuralink has moved its monkey research to its own facilities.