San Francisco, California - Tesla has been ordered to pay nearly $3.2 million to a Black former worker in a lawsuit that accused the company of failing to address racial harassment at its Fremont plant.

The plaintiff, Owen Diaz, complained to managers on multiple occasions that workers regularly used racist slurs and drew swastikas and other racist epithets on work areas during his nine-month stint at the Tesla factory.

"It made me feel less than a man (and) it made me question my worth," Diaz testified last week, according to Reuters. "I was living from paycheck to paycheck and I needed the job."

The former elevator operator at the company added that the experiences of racism at the plant made him anxious and strained his relationship with his son, who also worked at the factory.

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Tesla lawyer Alex Spiro accused Diaz of exaggerating his emotional distress claims and said that the former worker did not file any written complaints.

Diaz said he made numerous verbal complaints to managers and spoke with Human Resources officials, the Guardian reported.

A San Francisco federal jury on Monday agreed to award Diaz $175,000 in damages for emotional distress and $3 million in punitive damages.

The amount is lower than the $15 million Diaz won last year but rejected in calling for a new trial.

A jury originally awarded him $7 million in damages for emotional distress and $130 million in punitive damages, but a judge in 2021 cut that total amount to $15 million.

Alexander argued in the retrial that the jury should award Diaz nearly $160 million to send a message that large companies like Tesla will be held accountable for declining to address racial discrimination.