Tesla Faces Lawsuit For Racial Harassment In Its Factories (mercurynews.com)

Three former Tesla factory workers have filed a lawsuit against the company, claiming they were subject to constant racial discrimination and harassment in the electric car company's factories. "The men, who are African-American, claim in a new complaint filed Monday in state court that Tesla supervisors and workers used racial epithets and drew racist graffiti on cardboard boxes," reports The Mercury News. From the report: The new suit is the second by black employees charging Tesla failed to address racial antagonism at its factory. The electric vehicle maker also has a hearing before the National Labor Relations Board over claims it illegally tried to silence workers promoting a union. The complaints come as the Tesla heads into a crucial ramp-up of Model 3 production, its lower-cost electric vehicle. A Tesla spokesman denied the suit's allegations and said the men never raised the complaints to the company during their brief time at the plant. "Given our size, we recognize that unfortunately at times there will be cases of harassment or discrimination in corners of the company," the spokesman said. "From what we know so far, this does not seem to be such a case." The suit, filed in Alameda County Superior Court, claims Owen Diaz and his son, Demetric, were called the N-word while they worked at the Fremont factory, and supervisors did little to stop it. A third man, Lamar Patterson, also claims he was subjected to insensitive racist remarks.

Comments

Why is political drama on slashdot?

[bongey]

And when are the political narratives constantly being pushed now on this site going to end? I thought this was a tech site.

Re: Why is political drama on slashdot?

[ArchieBunker]

This site hasnâ(TM)t been about technology for years. Itâ(TM)s now an angry far left insane asylum. Anyway it should be clear this lawsuit isnâ(TM)t about racial harassment itâ(TM)s the unions punching back. They do this kind of shit when they donâ(TM)t get their way.

This site can't even figure out how to properly display text. Something that seems to have been solved since the first cathode ray terminal.

Re:Unacceptable

[JaredOfEuropa]

being subjected to racial epithets / The fact that Tesla did little or nothing to address or curb this behavior

Are these facts, or is someone looking for a payday? If there has been a formal complaint that got ignored, there'd be a pretty clear case. If the harassment actually happened but no formal complaint was made for whatever reason, then it comes down (or should come down) to what the law says about what exactly Tesla's obligations are in having an appropriate code of conduct and making sure it is being followed. No idea what US law has to say about that to be honest... But the point is that Tesla ought to be judged on facts, not claims or hearsay.

Re:Elon Musk is a hypocrite

[phayes]

Claims != proven facts and a simple google search on "uaw fraud unionizing" will show that UAW has been proven to have stooped to lies and out and out fraud in pursuit of forcing unionization.

Lets save the outrage until fault has been proven and avoid becoming the modern equivalent of whites in the south lynching a black man on trumped up claims, shall we?

Re:Unacceptable

[ClickOnThis]

If there has been a formal complaint that got ignored, there'd be a pretty clear case.

From TFA:

Demetric Diaz complained about the regular use of epithets to the staffing agency and another supervisor, the suit said. The supervisor told him he was just a replaceable temporary worker. Diaz was dismissed less than a week later in October 2015.

Owen Diaz continued to work as an elevator operator. But over time, the suit claimed, the harassment grew worse. A co-worker regularly used the N-word. Diaz found an offensive “pickaninny” cartoon with the caption “Boo!” drawn on a bale of cardboard.

Owen Diaz also got into a heated argument with the supervisor who drew the cartoon, the suit said. He complained about the incident, and started to receive poor work evaluations. Diaz left Tesla around May 2016.

I'm not sure what you definition is of a "formal" complaint, but the employees own stories indicate that supervisors were aware of the harassment, and even took part in it. This despite the complaints to other supervisors and the employment agency.

Missing in all of this is Tesla's policy for reporting such behavior in a way that it does not jeopardize the reporter's position in the company. Anyone care to share that?

Even so, it seems implausible that nobody in middle management or upwards knew this was going on.