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Tesla Hit With Another Lawsuit, This Time Alleging Anti-LGBT Harassment (theverge.com)
Earlier this week, Tesla was hit with a lawsuit for racial harassment in its factories. Now, a newer lawsuit has been filed against the company alleging anti-LGBT harassment. An anonymous reader shares a report from The Verge: A former employee at Tesla's Fremont factory filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the electric carmaker, alleging he was fired in retaliation after seeking protection from anti-gay harassment, The Guardian reported today. The defendant, an assembly line worker named Jorge Ferro, claims he was taunted for being gay and threatened with violence. "Watch your back," one supervisor told him after mocking his "gay tight" clothing, the paper said. After complaining to an HR representative, Ferro was repeatedly moved to different assembly lines, but the harassment didn't stop. Ultimately, HR told him there was "no place for handicapped people at Tesla" after noticing an old scar on his wrist, according to The Guardian. He was sent home, and eventually terminated. In a strongly worded statement to the paper, Tesla denied the allegations and defended itself against the charges. "There is no company on earth with a better track record than Tesla," a spokesperson said.
Depends on the HR droid in question.
Okay, I work for a small company, right? We have one HR guy. To the best of my knowledge, he does not have a college degree in a field that would lend itself to HR.
The previous HR person we had was an Anthropology major. The HR person we had before that was... I'm not actually sure what qualifications they had.
Now, yes, it's unlikely that a company as large as Tesla would have a bone-stupid, incompetent HR department. That is, the entire department. But it's possible that in an otherwise competent HR department, they have one guy who is shit at his job. Or maybe he just said the wrong thing. Because, clearly, no intelligent person has ever stuck their foot in their mouth.
Now, if they're smart, they'll settle these cases. Continued bad press scares investors.
Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
The Guardian (why not just link to the source, instead of an article about the article?) elaborates:
The harassment didnâ(TM)t stop after he reported it to a manager, and days after he made a second complaint, Ferro was punished, according to his account. An HR representative took away Ferroâ(TM)s badge, claiming that he had an âoeinjuryâ that prevented him from working and saying thereâ(TM)s âoeno place for handicapped people at Teslaâ, he alleged.
If that it true then there should be some hard evidence, i.e. documentation of the reason he was fired. Tesla could be in real trouble if it turns out to be true.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Speaking as the spouse of an employment lawyer, public companies are hit by discrimination lawsuits all the time. The primary reason is that discrimination is the only cause of action most employees have if they feel they've been unjustly terminated. Even if they are really upset because they thought their boss unfairly evaluated their work, they may allege discrimination because they can't sue over anything else.
In other words, I wouldn't make too much of this. People are only paying attention because it's Tesla.
None of the above is to say that discrimination or harassment can't be a serious problem, and that the suits are never meritorious- just that the mere fact of the suit occurring doesn't mean much.