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Elon Musk\u2019s brain-implant startup Neuralink Corp. forced an employee to work with monkeys that carried the Herpes B virus in conditions in which the animals scratched her bare skin, according to a complaint filed Friday in state court in California.<\/p>\n
The employee, Lindsay Short, said that once she transferred to the company\u2019s Fremont, California, site in August 2022, she encountered \u201ca work environment fraught with blame, shame, and impossible deadlines.\u201d She said she was later fired after telling her supervisors that she was pregnant.<\/p>\n
Short sued the company for retaliation, wrongful termination and discrimination based on her gender among other issues.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Neuralink didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment on the suit.<\/p>\n
The startup is in the early stages of clinical trials for its device, which is aimed at restoring function for paralyzed patients. An Arizona man, Noland Arbaugh, recently underwent surgery and became\u00a0the first human patient<\/a>\u00a0to have the device implanted. A quadriplegic, Arbaugh can now successfully play video games by using only his thoughts.<\/p>\n The company has also\u00a0come under fire<\/a>\u00a0for the mistreatment of monkeys and other animals in the past, including botched surgeries when it conducted research on monkeys housed at the University of California at Davis. It has since moved monkey research to its own facilities.<\/p>\n Short said she was working with monkeys that carried the Herpes B virus when she was scratched through a glove. She accused the company of failing to provide proper protective gear to work with the monkeys. In another incident, after she was forced to perform a procedure she wasn\u2019t familiar with, a monkey scratched her face. When she insisted on medical treatment, her boss threatened \u201csevere repercussions\u201d if it happened again, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n In the lawsuit, Short also said Neuralink didn\u2019t honor a promise for flexible work hours to accommodate her family, then demoted her in May 2023, two months after a promotion.<\/p>\n The following month, she told Neuralink\u2019s human resources department she was pregnant. Short was fired the following day with the company saying the dismissal was for performance issues, according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nSubscribe to the Eye on AI newsletter to stay abreast of how AI is shaping the future of business. Sign up<\/a> for free.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n