A former employee of Elon Musk’s controversial brain implant company Neuralink alleged in a new lawsuit that she was scratched by a monkey infected with herpes on the job and was later fired for being pregnant.
Lindsay Short sued the company in a California state court on Friday, claiming she was subject to a hostile, unsafe, and discriminatory work environment, Bloomberg reports. She is suing for wrongful termination, gender discrimination, and retaliation, among other charges.
Short alleged in the suit that Neuralink’s Fremont, California worksite was “fraught with blame, shame, and impossible deadlines.”
Neuralink, a brain implant start-up founded by Musk, has been in clinical trials for its chips and has done extensive testing on monkeys. But Short claimed the company, which did not immediately return a request for comment Monday morning, did not provide her with proper protective gear while working with the monkeys.
Short alleged a monkey carrying the Herpes B virus scratched through her glove, Bloomberg reports. She also said a monkey once scratched her face. Worse, Short alleged she was admonished for seeking medical treatment for the incidents and was told there would be “severe repercussions” if another incident occurred.
Short was fired in 2023 for performance issues, but claims her termination was retaliation and said it came the day after she told human resources she was pregnant. She also said the company promised to provide her with flexible work hours, but didn’t.
Neuralink implanted one of its chips in a person a for the first time in February. Noland Arbaugh, a quadriplegic man who received the implant, can now play video games hands-free. In May, the company was granted a second FDA approval to implant a chip in another human patient.
But the company’s practices have drawn scrutiny recently. According to a recent report, around a dozen monkeys died harrowing deaths after receiving a Neuralink chip during testing trials. The company was also investigated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture following reports that it was using animal testing. No violations were found.