California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing has filed a discrimination and harassment complaint against Tesla on Wednesday. Tesla’s Fremont, California manufacturing factory is the focus of a lawsuit filed in state court.
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, after receiving “hundreds of complaints from workers,” the California agency concluded the Fremont factory is a “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 director Kevin Kish.
In the past, Tesla has been the target of harassment and discrimination claims. An employee at Tesla’s Fremont factory filed a class-action lawsuit against the company in 2017 claiming that Tesla refused to investigate claims that Vaughn was routinely called the “n-word” by supervisors and colleagues.
Last year, Tesla was sentenced to pay $137 million in damages to a former black contractor who claimed the firm had ignored racial harassment and discrimination at the same facility. Owen Diaz, a Tesla employee, filed a complaint alleging that he was harassed with racial epithets and that Tesla workers had drawn racist graffiti, swastikas, and other ugly caricatures on the walls, which his bosses had failed to stop.
Multiple women came out towards the end of 2021 to accuse Tesla of cultivating an environment of sexual harassment at the same facility in which they had worked. At work, the women reported being subjected to harassment, including catcalls, unwelcome approaches, and unwanted physical contact.
Before the case was filed, Tesla wrote a blog post in which it reiterated its strong opposition to discrimination, harassment, and highlighting the corporate steps it claims to have taken.
When workers engage in misbehaviour “including those who use racial slurs or harassment in diverse forms,” Tesla has “always penalised and dismissed people,” according to a blog post from the company.
It’s worth noting, though, that Tesla has previously argued that it is the sole surviving car manufacturer in California. Although California is losing manufacturing jobs, the [Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH)] has opted to prosecute Tesla instead of working constructively with us. This is both unjust and unproductive, particularly in light of the fact that the charges centre on incidents that occurred years ago.”
In response to Elon Musk’s promise to stop all production in California if “Tesla is handled in the future,” Tesla relocated its headquarters from California to Austin, Texas, last year. To limit the spread of COVID, Tesla closed its Fremont production site in May 2020 and launched a lawsuit against Alameda County, which was eventually withdrawn.
The DFEH told WSJ that black employees routinely heard Tesla supervisors and managers using racial insults and observed racist graffiti at the plant, and that they were given to more physically demanding positions, were penalised more severely and were passed over for professional possibilities.
As of December 2020, 10% of Tesla’s U.S. employees were black or African American, according to the company’s first diversity report. Only 4% of the directors are black. Hispanic and Latinx workers make up 22% of the workforce, while just 4% of director-level and above personnel are Hispanic or Latinx. One-quarter of the company’s directors are Asian, making approximately 21% of the total workforce.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the DFEH plans to make its complaint publicly accessible online on Thursday morning.