Tesla Faces New Racial Abuse Scandal

It looks like theTesla Model 3and family plant is back in the news for racial discrimination yet again. Last year, the company was ordered topay a former employee$137 million in damages for a hostile work environment that included a barrage of racial slurs. It looks like since then, not much has changed as news has surfaced that hundreds of complaints have been submitted for this same use at the company's Fremont factory. A contrast to Stellantis's confirmation that it would beinvesting in black businesses.

The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) has confirmed that some workers have complained that the facility has been operating as a racially segregated workplace resulting in a toxic environment. Tesla has issued an official response by calling the lawsuit misguided and says that it "strongly opposes all forms of discrimination and harassment." Furthermore, it has requested that the court pauses the case.

DFEH director Kevin Kish says his division "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," and claims that Black or African-American work areas were referred to as "the plantation."

The lawsuit which was filed by the DFEH alleges that one worker was the recipient of racial slurs as much as 50-100 times a day. Tesla responded to this by declaring the agency has been approached by employees for racial abuse on 50 occasions in the last five years. The response declared that "On every single occasion when the DFEH closed an investigation, it did not find misconduct against Tesla."