A former employee at Elon Musk’s brain chip company Neuralink alleged that a monkey infected with the Herpes B virus scratched her and that she was fired after informing her superiors that she was pregnant, according to a lawsuit.
Lindsay Short, who started working at Neuralink as an animal care specialist in August 2022, accused her former company of failing to provide adequate protective gear while she was exposed to the animals — some of which were carrying a virus that could cause severe brain damage and even death in humans.
The lawsuit — filed Friday in California state court and obtained by The Post — accused Neuralink of creating a hostile work environment that included setting unrealistic deadlines and shaming employees.
Short alleged that in September 2022, a monkey reached through the bars of its cage and scratched her through her glove and “broke the skin” — which ended up “contaminating” her and “exposing her to Herpes B in the process.”
In another incident that allegedly took place in March of last year, Short claimed she was scratched across the face by a monkey that was carrying the Herpes B virus.
When Short sought medical treatment for the injuries caused by the monkeys, she alleged that her superiors threatened “severe repercussions” if such incidents happened again, according to the lawsuit.
Short also alleged that she was promised by her bosses that they would accommodate her request for flexible work hours so she can care for her child, but then reneged.
Short alleged in her lawsuit that when she raised concerns about sanitary conditions as well as the company’s “refusal to accommodate her needs or honor their oral contract regarding her flexible schedule,” her bosses retaliated against her by demoting her “under the erroneous guise of poor work performance.”
Last June, Short informed human resources at Neuralink that she was pregnant. She asked HR to “engage with her in the interactive process to determine whether reasonable accommodations could be made for her.”
Short told HR rather than her superiors because she “would often mention how they did not like children” and that “having kids ‘got in the way of their career,’” it was alleged in the lawsuit.
The next day, she was fired by her bosses, who cited “performance issues,” according to the lawsuit.
“The razor thin, one day difference between” Short’s disclosure that she was pregnant “and her wrongful termination strongly suggests retaliation,” according to the lawsuit.
She is suing Neuralink for retaliation, wrongful termination and gender discrimination — among other claims.
The Post has sought comment from Short and Neuralink.
In December 2022, it was learned that Neuralink was being investigated by the federal government for potential animal-welfare violations amid internal staff complaints that its testing was being rushed, causing needless suffering and deaths.
Neuralink, which has developed a brain implant that it hopes will help paralyzed people walk again and cure other neurological ailments, was being scrutinized by the inspector general of the US Department of Agriculture.
More than a dozen current and former employees who spoke to Reuters said that pressure from Musk to accelerate development resulted in botched experiments.
Such failed tests have had to be repeated, increasing the number of animals being tested and killed, the employees say.
In all, the company has killed about 1,500 animals, including more than 280 sheep, pigs and monkeys, following experiments since 2018, according to records reviewed by Reuters and sources with direct knowledge of the company’s animal-testing operations.
The sources characterized that figure as a rough estimate because the company does not keep precise records on the number of animals tested and killed.
Current and former Neuralink employees say the number of animal deaths is higher than it needs to be for reasons related to Musk’s demands to speed research.
Earlier this year, Neuralink implanted its chip into its first human volunteer, 29-year-old Noland Arbaugh, who is paralyzed from the neck down after a diving accident eight years ago.
Last month, the company announced that Arbaugh’s brain implant, which helped him telepathically control a mouse, experienced a problem when some of the threads became detached.
With Post Wires
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