Tesla is being sued again for racial discrimination and harassment
San Francisco, California - A state agency in California announced a lawsuit against Tesla, and accused the electric car company of tolerating racial discrimination and harassment.
California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) has newly accused Tesla of allowing hundreds of workers to be the target of racist graffiti, racial slurs, and discriminatory practices, according to the New York Times.
The agency alleged even supervisors aimed slurs at Black Tesla employees. They also claimed Black workers ended up doing more strenuous physical labor, were denied transfers, and were passed over for promotions more frequently than non-Black employees.
"After receiving hundreds of complaints from workers, DFEH 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," the department’s director Kevin Kish said in a statement.
This is only the most recent in a string of lawsuits aimed at Tesla for racial or gender-based discrimination, such as a Black former Tesla employee who was paid $137 million in October after being harassed by a supervisor and colleague. Additionally, seven female Tesla employees sued the company in November and December citing verbal and physical sexual harassment.
Tesla responded to the accusations in a statement, saying it "strongly opposes all forms of discrimination and harassment and has a dedicated Employee Relations team that responds to and investigates all complaints."
Cover photo: Imago/UPI Photo