AUTOMAKER Tesla is being sued over allegations of racial discrimination at its California headquarters, a new report says.
The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) said it filed the complaint against Tesla on Wednesday in state court.
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The lawsuit alleges issues of racial discrimination and segregation at Tesla’s Fremont factory, the company’s main U.S. car plant.
DFEH director Kevin Kish said in a statement: “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.”
According to the DFEH’s report, the company’s Fremont factory featured an array of discriminatory behavior from employees, managers, and supervisors, who were “active participants and/or witnesses to these racist comments.”
The agency added that one Black worker even heard racial slurs as often as 50 to 100 times a day.
Black Tesla workers also said they were not only penalized for minor workplace infractions more often than non-Black colleagues but also often denied promotions.
The automaker denied the charges in a blog post it published on Wednesday, writing: “Tesla strongly opposes all forms of discrimination and harassment and has a dedicated Employee Relations team that responds to and investigates all complaints.”
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The car company added that they have “always disciplined and terminated employees who engage in misconduct, including those who use racial slurs or harass others in different ways.”
Tesla also revealed in the blogpost that they recently rolled out a training program that reinforces Tesla’s “requirement that all employees must treat each other with respect,” as well the myriad ways they can report concerns.
The company did not hesitate to remind everyone that they are the “last remaining automobile manufacturer in California” and that its Freemont factory has a majority-minority workforce that offers the best-paying jobs in the automotive industry.
Tesla quickly added that DFEH’s lawsuit was “unfair and counterproductive.”
This is not the first time Tesla has faced legal action rooted in racial harassment and discrimination at its Fremont factory.
In October 2021, one Black former employee was awarded $137 million in damages after reporting a hostile and racist work environment.
In response to the verdict, Tesla human resources VP Valerie Capers Workman said the verdict wasn’t justified.
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