Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
California Accuses Tesla of Racial Discrimination in Lawsuit
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 3 years ago on
February 10, 2022

Share

 

California sued Tesla Inc. on Wednesday over allegations of discrimination and harassment of Black employees at its San Francisco Bay area factory.

The suit, filed in Alameda County Superior Court, was sparked by hundreds of worker complaints, said Kevin Kish, head of the state’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing.

The department, which enforces state civil rights laws, “found evidence that Tesla’s Fremont factory is a racially segregated workplace where Black workers are subjected to racial slurs and discriminated against in job assignments, discipline, pay, and promotion creating a hostile work environment,” Kish said in a statement reported by the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg.

Details of the lawsuit have yet to be released and Tesla didn’t immediately issue a response to the lawsuit, which the electric carmaker had warned was coming several days earlier in an annual filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Tesla Calls Suit Misguided

However, in a blog post before the filing, Tesla called the suit misguided and said the agency “has never once raised any concern” about its workplace practices following a three-year investigation.

The posting said the lawsuit appears to focus on accusations by production associates at the factory, who said misconduct took place between 2015 and 2019. The post also said it will ask the court to “pause the case and take other steps to ensure that facts and evidence will be heard.”

“Attacking a company like Tesla that has done so much good for California should not be the overriding aim of a state agency with prosecutorial authority,” the blog said.

Last October, a San Francisco jury awarded nearly $137 million to a Black contract worker who said that he faced “daily racist epithets,” including the “N-word,” at the plant in 2015 and 2016 before quitting.

Accusations of Racist Drawings and Swastikas

Owen Diaz said employees drew swastikas and left racist graffiti and drawings around the plant and that supervisors failed to stop the abuse.

Tesla is appealing that verdict and has denied any knowledge of racist conduct that Diaz said took place at the plant, which has about 10,000 workers.

Tesla’s blog post said it “has always disciplined and terminated employees who engage in misconduct, including those who use racial slurs or harass others.”

In recent years, Tesla has been hit with numerous allegations by former workers of sexual harassment and racial discrimination at the Fremont plant. However, many don’t reach the courts because Tesla requires its full-time employees to agree to private arbitration of employment-related disputes.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Voting Rights Under Fire in Texas: Over a Million Purged From Rolls, ACLU Warns

DON'T MISS

Bettors Banking on Eagles Resurgence, Cowboys Regression as NFL Season Begins

DON'T MISS

Abandoned Poodle Mix Adam Survives the Wild and Seeks a Forever Home

DON'T MISS

Labor Day Quiz: What Did Elvis Do Before He Was the ‘King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’?

DON'T MISS

Why Black Students Are Still Disciplined at Higher Rates: Takeaways From AP’s Report

DON'T MISS

Top Brazilian Judge Orders Suspension of X Platform in Brazil Amid Feud With Musk

DON'T MISS

Trump Reverses Course, Opposes Florida Abortion Rights Measure After Conservative Backlash

DON'T MISS

How a Real Estate Boom Drove Political Corruption in Los Angeles

DON'T MISS

Big Red Church Hosts Forum on Palestine on Saturday Night

DON'T MISS

Palestinian TikTok Star Who Shared Details of Gaza Life Under Siege Is Killed by Israeli Airstrike

UP NEXT

Bettors Banking on Eagles Resurgence, Cowboys Regression as NFL Season Begins

UP NEXT

Abandoned Poodle Mix Adam Survives the Wild and Seeks a Forever Home

UP NEXT

Labor Day Quiz: What Did Elvis Do Before He Was the ‘King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’?

UP NEXT

Why Black Students Are Still Disciplined at Higher Rates: Takeaways From AP’s Report

UP NEXT

Top Brazilian Judge Orders Suspension of X Platform in Brazil Amid Feud With Musk

UP NEXT

Trump Reverses Course, Opposes Florida Abortion Rights Measure After Conservative Backlash

UP NEXT

How a Real Estate Boom Drove Political Corruption in Los Angeles

UP NEXT

Big Red Church Hosts Forum on Palestine on Saturday Night

UP NEXT

Palestinian TikTok Star Who Shared Details of Gaza Life Under Siege Is Killed by Israeli Airstrike

UP NEXT

Valley PBS Taps Mollison to Be New President/CEO

Labor Day Quiz: What Did Elvis Do Before He Was the ‘King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’?

11 hours ago

Why Black Students Are Still Disciplined at Higher Rates: Takeaways From AP’s Report

12 hours ago

Top Brazilian Judge Orders Suspension of X Platform in Brazil Amid Feud With Musk

23 hours ago

Trump Reverses Course, Opposes Florida Abortion Rights Measure After Conservative Backlash

23 hours ago

How a Real Estate Boom Drove Political Corruption in Los Angeles

1 day ago

Big Red Church Hosts Forum on Palestine on Saturday Night

1 day ago

Palestinian TikTok Star Who Shared Details of Gaza Life Under Siege Is Killed by Israeli Airstrike

1 day ago

Valley PBS Taps Mollison to Be New President/CEO

1 day ago

Farber Campus Opening: ‘Where Students’ Dreams Can Flourish and Not Wither’

1 day ago

Visalia Rawhide and City Agree on Terms to Upgrade Stadium

1 day ago

Voting Rights Under Fire in Texas: Over a Million Purged From Rolls, ACLU Warns

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced the removal of over one million voters from state rolls since 2020, sparking concern among voting rights ad...

6 hours ago

6 hours ago

Voting Rights Under Fire in Texas: Over a Million Purged From Rolls, ACLU Warns

10 hours ago

Bettors Banking on Eagles Resurgence, Cowboys Regression as NFL Season Begins

A black poodle's face with his tongue sticking out
11 hours ago

Abandoned Poodle Mix Adam Survives the Wild and Seeks a Forever Home

11 hours ago

Labor Day Quiz: What Did Elvis Do Before He Was the ‘King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’?

12 hours ago

Why Black Students Are Still Disciplined at Higher Rates: Takeaways From AP’s Report

23 hours ago

Top Brazilian Judge Orders Suspension of X Platform in Brazil Amid Feud With Musk

23 hours ago

Trump Reverses Course, Opposes Florida Abortion Rights Measure After Conservative Backlash

1 day ago

How a Real Estate Boom Drove Political Corruption in Los Angeles

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend