Black people at Elon Musk's California Tesla plant endured racist slurs, offensive graffiti: Lawsuit

Elon Musk's Tesla has been accused of harassing Black employees at one of its assembly plants, in addition to a number of individual cases from both the state and Tesla employees.

What happened?

On Thursday (Sept 28), a US civil rights agency filed a lawsuit against Tesla Inc, alleging that the electric car manufacturer has permitted significant harassment of Black employees at its flagship assembly plant in Fremont, California.

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According to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the lawsuit, filed in a California federal court, claims that from 2015 to the present, Black workers at the Tesla plant have regularly endured racist slurs and offensive graffiti, including Nazi symbols and nooses.

The EEOC further asserts that Tesla has failed to properly investigate these complaints of racist behavior and has taken retaliatory actions against employees who reported such harassment.

This lawsuit introduces federal charges alongside existing discrimination claims made by the state of California and Tesla employees.

Settlement talks between Tesla and the EEOC broke down after the agency formally raised its concerns last year.

What next?

Typically, the EEOC resolves cases with employers through settlements, so it is relatively uncommon for these cases to proceed to trial. In this case, the EEOC's lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages for an unspecified number of affected Black workers, in addition to an order mandating Tesla to reform its anti-discrimination and anti-retaliation policies.

Tesla is currently facing multiple other race discrimination lawsuits that share similar allegations, including a class action lawsuit by Fremont plant workers and a lawsuit by a California civil rights agency. The company has contended that the California department’s lawsuit is politically motivated and has argued that the agency violated state law by filing the suit without prior notification of all claims or an opportunity to settle.

Tesla has also asserted its commitment to preventing discrimination and taking employee complaints seriously.

As of Thursday, Tesla's stock price increased by 2.4 per cent to reach $246.38.

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