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Elon Musk and his space exploration firm SpaceX are staring down the battle of a multi-million-dollar lawsuit from an unlikely source. No, the company isn’t being sued by ex-employees or locals pissed at all its rocket tests, it’s instead being sued for trespass by the makers of hit card game Cards Against Humanity.
The company behind the game, also called Cards Against Humanity, purchased a plot of land in Texas back in 2017. The company acquired the land as part of a stunt to prevent Donald Trump from building a massive border wall during his time as president, reports Sky News. Now, the land could cost Trump’s BFF Elon Musk millions as SpaceX is accused of trespassing. As Sky News reports:
The lawsuit said Cards Against Humanity – referred to as CAH in legal filings – “acquired the Property for the sole purpose of ensuring that it would stay that way” and added: “SpaceX’s abuse of this Property has not only destroyed its natural condition, but has also caused even greater harm to CAH by virtue of the damage it has caused to CAH’s relationship with its paying supporters.”
In a statement through their Saves America campaign, Cards Against Humanity said SpaceX “f***ed” the land and alleged Mr Musk “figured he could just dump his shit all over our gorgeous plot of land without asking”.
The Chicago-based company then claimed “SpaceX gave us a 12-hour ultimatum to accept a lowball offer for less than half our land’s value” after they noticed the alleged trespass on their land. They said they declined the offer before filing the suit.
Since purchasing the land, CAH says it has maintained it in its natural state, reports the Associated Press. The company also says it added a “no trespassing” sign to warn people they were about to step on private property.
However, those warnings reportedly went unnoticed by SpaceX, which CAH says has repeatedly crossed the land leading to a loss in vegetation. As a result, the company filed the case in a Texas court demanding $15 million in damages from Musk’s company.
As the land was initially purchased through $15 donations from fans of the game via a campaign called Save America, CAH says everyone who donated will be given $100 from the $15m damages should it win the legal battle ahead.
This is far from the first legal battle that SpaceX has found itself embroiled in in recent years. Last year, the company faced accusations of discrimination and harassment from a former employee, while earlier this year it was sued by eight former employees who claimed the company fostered a culture of sexual harassment.