WASHINGTON – A US court ordered Tesla to pay $3.2 million in compensation to a former employee for racial discrimination after suffering repeated abuse at the company’s vehicle assembly plant in California, the local press reported Tuesday.
Owen Díaz, a black worker who in 2015 was hired to work in Fremont (California) through a service agency, denounced that for months he suffered racial insults at the plant and that Tesla did not take measures to prevent the constant harassment he suffered.
Diaz stated that during his time at Fremont, he and other black workers were constantly insulted by some of their colleagues, who made racist drawings in the plant’s restrooms.
For their part, Tesla’s lawyers accused Diaz of lying and exaggerating.
In 2021, a jury initially ruled that Tesla should pay Diaz $137 million, but the judge in the case reduced the fine to $15 million, saying the amount was excessive.
Both Diaz and Tesla appealed Judge William Orrick’s decision, and on Monday a San Francisco court reduced the fine again to $3.2 million.
US media reported today that Tesla has been sued more than 200 times by employees and former employees. The figure does not include cases that have not gone through the courts and have been resolved by arbitration.
In July 2022, 15 black Tesla workers and former employees sued the company in California for racial discrimination and sexual harassment.
One of the plaintiffs, Teri Mitchell, said she was regularly harassed by both other workers and her bosses who, among other things, told her that “it’s weird that black people work here” and “I don’t know how long you’re going to last.” here”.
In 2021, at least seven women sued Tesla, also in California, for fostering a culture of sexual harassment at the Fremont plant.
Keep reading:
Florida school principal resigns after signing $100,000 check to fake Elon Musk