Racism Case Against Black Employees at TESLA

Fifteen black former and current employees of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) filed a lawsuit against the electric car maker on Thursday, alleging that they were subjected to racial abuse and harassment at its factories.

According to the lawsuit filed in California state court, the workers said they were regularly subjected to offensive racist comments and behavior by coworkers, managers and human resources employees. The harassment, which occurred mostly at Tesla's Fremont, California, factory, included using the terms "nigger," "slavery" or "plantation," or making sexual comments such as "likes booty," the lawsuit said, adding that the automaker's "standard operating procedures include blatant, overt and unremitting racial discrimination." According to the lawsuit, some of the plaintiffs were assigned to the most physically demanding tasks at Tesla or passed over for promotion. Montieco Justice, who worked as a production associate at Tesla's Fremont factory, was immediately demoted when he returned to Tesla after taking a leave of absence due to COVID-19, the lawsuit said. Tesla did not respond to Reuters' request for comment for a while. The automaker faces at least 10 lawsuits alleging widespread racial discrimination or sexual harassment, including one by a California civil rights agency. The company has previously denied wrongdoing and said it has policies in place to prevent and address misconduct in the workplace. On Monday, a federal judge in California ordered a new trial on damages owed by Tesla after a former black factory worker who accused Tesla of racial discrimination rejected a $15 million award. This month, a Tesla shareholder filed a lawsuit accusing CEO Elon Musk and the company's board of directors of neglecting worker grievances and fostering a toxic workplace culture.   Source: Reuters