Adding to a string of other race discrimination lawsuits against Elon Musk’s electric car company, Tesla is being sued by a US civil rights agency that claims the firm has tolerated severe harassment of black employees at its flagship California assembly plant.
Tesla is being sued by a US civil rights agency that claims Elon Musk’s electric car firm tolerated harassment of black employees at its flagship California assembly plant.
The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in the lawsuit, filed at a federal court the alleged offence took place from 2015 to the present, and said black workers at the Tesla plant in Fremont have routinely been subjected to racist slurs and graffiti – including swastikas and nooses.
It added Tesla has failed to investigate complaints of racist conduct and has fired or otherwise retaliated against workers who reported harassment.
Stephen Diamond, a law professor at Santa Clara University, who has advised investors on social responsibility at Tesla, said: “If the federal government gets involved, it certainly adds credibility to the claims.
“Major institutional investors like pension funds will be very concerned about this type of behaviour.”
The EEOC in the lawsuit said it began investigating Tesla after the five-member commission’s chair, Charlotte Burrows, filed an internal complaint against the company.
According to the lawsuit, after finding last year there was “reasonable cause” to believe Tesla had violated the federal law banning workplace race discrimination, the agency tried and failed to enter into a settlement agreement with the company.
The EEOC’s lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages for an unspecified number of black workers.
It also includes an order requiring Tesla to overhaul its policies prohibiting discrimination and retaliation.
Tesla is facing a string of other race discrimination lawsuits that make similar accusations.
They include a class action by workers at the Fremont plant and a lawsuit by a California civil rights agency.
The company has said it does not tolerate discrimination and takes workers’ complaints seriously.
Tesla being sued by US civil rights agency over alleged harassment of black employees
