Trial begins over claims of racial discrimination against Black Tesla workers
California has taken Tesla to trial over allegations that Black employees at its Fremont factory faced racist slurs, unequal pay and unchecked harassment. Tesla denies the accusations and calls the lawsuit misguided.
A trial began Monday in California in a lawsuit brought by the state's Civil Rights Department against Elon Musk's Tesla, accusing the company of fostering racial discrimination at its Fremont assembly plant. The case rests on complaints from dozens of Black employees who described daily racist slurs, unequal pay and promotions, and bullying from supervisors that management allegedly failed to address.
State attorney Brett Watson presented the court with photographs from inside the factory showing the N-word scratched into metal surfaces and written on walls, along with "KKK," swastikas, the Confederate flag, a white supremacist logo and "go back to Africa" found in bathrooms, lockers and lunch tables. One worker reportedly said he heard racial slurs as often as 50 to 100 times a day. Watson said employees referred to the factory using degrading nicknames including "slaveship" and "the plantation."
The lawsuit, filed in February 2022, alleges Tesla violated California's Fair Employment and Housing Act, claiming the factory was racially segregated and that Black workers were paid less, promoted less often and fired more frequently than white counterparts. The state is seeking financial damages and an injunction that could force Tesla to overhaul its labor practices. Judge Peter Borkon is presiding over the bench trial, which is expected to run through the end of October.
Tesla has denied wrongdoing, calling the lawsuit misguided and saying it has consistently disciplined or fired employees for misconduct, including racial slurs. The company's lead lawyer, Tyree Jones, argued the state was unfairly targeting one of California's largest employers, which he said maintains a majority-minority workforce.
The case is one of numerous discrimination lawsuits against Tesla, including one from the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In 2022, a federal jury awarded former employee Owen Diaz $137m in a similar case, later reduced by a judge. Female employees have filed comparable suits alleging harassment. Musk, who joined Tesla in 2004 and became CEO in 2008, has separately faced accusations of promoting racist rhetoric, though he is not expected to testify in this trial.
