The accusations of racism at Tesla’s Fremont factory continue to mount, as 240 black workers at its Fremont factory have come forward with sworn statements detailing their experiences of racial slurs and discrimination at the factory. The allegations come at a time when the company is already facing a lawsuit by the California Civil Rights Department over alleged violations of state discrimination laws.
In a case in April, a jury awarded $3.2 million in damages to Owen Diaz, who says he endured incessant racial abuse during his nine and a half months as an elevator operator at the plant. Diaz said he was subjected to racist slurs by supervisors, exposed to offensive cartoons, and told to “go back to Africa.” U.S. District Judge William Orrick III, who presided over Diaz’s case, remarked that the factory was “saturated with racism” and criticized Tesla’s lack of support for Diaz and failure to hold his abusers accountable.
Diaz has since requested a third trial after seeing his award shrink from $137 million to $3.2 million.
The California Supreme Court allowed black employees to seek a judicial order that would compel Tesla to acknowledge the existence of a discriminatory environment and take corrective measures. As a result, 240 workers filed sworn statements supporting this proposed order and a class-action lawsuit initiated in 2017, which represents up to 6,000 past and present black workers at the Fremont plant. These individuals detailed instances of being called racial slurs such as the N-word and witnessed hate symbols like swastikas in various areas of the factory. (via San Francisco Chronicle)
The attorneys representing the workers highlighted what they said was a deeply ingrained culture of racism at the Fremont factory. They revealed that derogatory terms and racially charged language were not isolated incidents but part of workers’ daily experiences.
Marcus Vaughn, the lead plaintiff in the case, reported multiple instances of racial insults and harassment but received no response from Tesla or Elon Musk after filing formal complaints. Instead of addressing the issue, the company terminated Vaughn’s employment in October 2017, citing his alleged “negative attitude.”
Tesla has denied any failure to protect its black employees and asserted its prompt action when confronted with claims of racial abuse.
