Dozens of Black employees at Tesla’s flagship plant in California said they were subject to racist slurs, unequal pay and promotions, and bullying by supervisors on a daily basis, a situation management did little to nothing to fix. Their complaints form the basis of a lawsuit brought against the Elon Musk-owned electric car company by the state of California, which began trial with opening statements on Monday. Brett Watson, a lawyer for the California Civil Rights Department, started by showing the court a series of photographs taken throughout Tesla’s Fremont factory.
There was the N-word scratched on to a grey-blue metal surface and written in black marker on a wall. Watson listed a long string of racial epithets workers said were directed personally at them, including one incident where a Black worker said he was asked: “You want to hang from a tree?” “Despite what Tesla might argue, you will hear Black workers were deeply offended,” Watson said. One Black worker told state lawyers that he heard racial slurs as often as 50-100 times a day.
The lawsuit was filed against Tesla in February 2022 and alleges that the company did not comply with the law, violating California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act. It alleges that the factory was racially segregated and Black workers were paid less, promoted less and terminated more frequently than their white counterparts. The state is seeking financial damages and injunctive relief, which could force Tesla to change its labor practices and internal policies.
Judge Peter Borkon will make the final ruling in the bench trial, which proceeds without a jury. It’s the first such lawsuit brought against Tesla by a government agency on behalf of dozens of workers. Legal experts say the outcome of the trial could have sweeping consequences for the company since the state is not bound by the same arbitration agreements as employees.
The trial is expected to continue through the end of October. The car manufacturer has denied any wrongdoing and called the lawsuit “misguided”, saying it has “always disciplined and terminated employees who engage in misconduct, including those who use racial slurs or harass others in different ways”. Tesla said its Fremont factory has a majority-minority workforce and provides “the best paying jobs in the automotive industry” to tens of thousands of Californians.
Tyree Jones, the lead lawyer for Tesla, began his opening statements repeatedly saying the N-word in a familiar tone. Referring to the racist graffiti around the factory, Jones said: “The state is blaming the employer, when it’s the victim.” This lawsuit is one of dozens of discrimination suits brought against Tesla, including a case brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency. The suits allege the company has routinely ignored complaints of repeated racial harassment.
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