Tesla lawyers are in court, defending auto factory employees against accusations they used racist slurs, discriminated against employees of color in evaluations, and engaged in other anti-Black behavior that created an unsafe environment for workers.
The lawsuit, brought by the state of California on behalf of dozens of Black Tesla employees, was filed in 2022 and claims management at Tesla's flagship factory — located in Fremont, California — violated the state's Fair Employment and Housing Act by creating a hostile environment.
It's the first employee lawsuit against the electric vehicle company to go to trial through a state agency, reported the Guardian. Remarks began Monday.
Court documents include photographs of neo-Nazi imagery drawn on factory furniture and bathroom walls, as well as explicitly racist language etched into employee areas — including the phrase "go back to Africa" and the N-word.
Employees testified that supervisors referred to lynchings in conversations with Black workers, and the factory was often referred to as "slaveship," "the plantation," and "The Elon Slave Labor Association" ("TESLA"). One employee said they heard nearly 100 slurs in a single day.
In response, Tesla's legal team defended its employees and reportedly justified the use of racially-charged language.
"The state of California attacks the way many Black people greet each other," said Tesla's lead lawyer, Tyree Jones, in his initial remarks. "It’s offensive." Jones argued the N-word was a "term of respect and endearment," and provided examples of its use within the Black community that he argued wouldn't constitute its classification as a "racial slur."
In 2021, Tesla was ordered to pay $136.9 million to a former contractor who claimed the company ignored complaints of racist behavior by factory employees. A federal jury found Tesla guilty of enabling an unsafe work environment and negligently overseeing its staff.
In addition to explicitly racist behavior by employees, the latest lawsuit describes an allegedly "segregated" workplace in which Black workers were paid and promoted less, while being more frequently terminated. California is seeking financial damages and changes to Tesla's labor practices.
"These experiences cannot be dismissed as a few bad apples… hundreds of complaints to Tesla and [the Civil Rights Department] will show these experiences were not isolated," said California Civil Rights Department lawyer Brett Watson.
