Horrific Allegations of Racism Prompt California Lawsuit Against Tesla
Roosevelt, M. & Mitchell, R. (2022, February 11). Horrific Allegations of Racism Prompt California Lawsuit Against Tesla. Yahoo Finance. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/horrific-allegations-racism-prompt-california-130018126.html
Margo Roosevelt & Russ Mitchell write: "The N-word and other racist slurs were hurled daily at Black workers at Tesla’s California plant, delivered not just by fellow employees but also by managers and supervisors. So says California’s civil rights agency in a lawsuit filed against the electric-vehicle maker in Alameda County Superior Court on Thursday on behalf of thousands of Black workers after a decade of complaints and a 32-month investigation."
"Not only were Tesla's Black workers subjected to 'willful, malicious' harassment, but they were also denied promotions and paid less than other workers for the same jobs, the suit asserted. They were disciplined for infractions for which other workers were not penalized...Black workers make up 20% of Tesla’s factory assemblers, but there are no Black executives and just 3% of professionals at the Fremont plant are Black, the lawsuit said...Like many companies now, Tesla requires its directly hired employees to sign arbitration agreements, relegating any complaints to secret proceedings with private judges and without any option to appeal. After the 2017 class-action suit, it also required its staffing agency workers to sign agreements waiving their rights to go to court."
"At least 160 worker lawsuits have been filed against Tesla since 2006, according to Plainsite, a court document transparency organization. The last two years have seen a major uptick in racial and sexual harassment suits against Tesla. At least five have been filed in the last six weeks...Tesla hired most workers through 14 staffing firms 'to avoid responsibility,' the state lawsuit asserted. The carmaker declined to investigate complaints by staffing agency workers, although most of the Black workers were employed by staffing firms. Staffing firms were also an issue in two large race discrimination cases brought by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission involving hundreds of Black warehouse workers in the Inland Empire."
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Photo Source: Berger, N. Black workers at Tesla's Fremont, Calif. factory were relegated to difficult physical jobs such as scrubbing floors on their hands and knees, a lawsuit alleges [Photograph]. Yahoo Finance. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/horrific-allegations-racism-prompt-california-130018126.html
