Elon Musk’s Neuralink Allegedly Forced a Pregnant Employee to Work With Herpes-Infected Monkeys

Fortune

Elon Musk’s 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 in state court in California.

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00:00Elon Musk's brain implant startup Neuralink forced an employee to work with monkeys that

00:06carried the herpes B virus in conditions in which the animal squashed her bare skin, according

00:12to a complaint filed last week in California.

00:16The employee, Lindsay Short, said that once she transferred to the company's Fremont

00:21location in August 2022, she encountered, quote, a work environment fraught with blame,

00:28shame, and impossible deadlines.

00:31She said she was later fired after telling her supervisors that she was pregnant.

00:36Short sued the company for retaliation, wrongful termination, and discrimination based on her

00:42gender among other issues.

00:44The startup is in the early stages of clinical trials for its brain chip device, which is

00:50aimed at restoring function for paralyzed patients.

00:53An Arizona man, Nolan Arba, recently underwent surgery and became the first human patient

01:00to have the device implanted.

01:02A quadriplegic, Arba can now successfully play video games by using only his thoughts.

01:09Short said she was working with monkeys that carried the herpes B virus when she was scratched

01:15through a glove.

01:16She accused the company of falling to provide proper protective gear to work with the monkeys.

01:22In another incident, after she was forced to perform a procedure she wasn't familiar

01:28with, a monkey scratched her face.

01:30When she insisted on medical treatment, her boss threatened, quote, severe repercussions

01:36if it happened again, according to the complaint.

01:39The company has also come under fire for the mistreatment of monkeys and other animals

01:44in the past, according to botched surgeries when they conduct research on monkeys housed

01:50at the University of California at Davis.

01:53It has since moved monkey research to its own facilities.

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