Tesla sued by civil rights agency for operating ‘racially segregated workplace’

Tesla has been sued by a state civil rights agency for operating what it describes as a “racially segregated workplace” in California.

The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) filed the lawsuit late on Wednesday, reports The Wall Street Journal, after the automaker posted a blogpost pre-empting and denying the charges.

DFEH director Kevin Kish said in a statement: “After receiving hundreds of complaints from workers, DFEH found evidence that Tesla’s Fremont factory is a racially segregated workplace where Black workers are subjected to racial slurs and discriminated against in job assignments, discipline, pay, and promotion creating a hostile work environment.”

According to the WSJ, the case against Telsa says Black workers “reported being assigned to more physically demanding roles, being subjected to more severe discipline and being passed over for professional opportunities” at the company’s Fremont factory. Black workers reported hearing supervisors and managers using racial slurs and found racist graffiti in the workplace. DFEH also says Black workers were underrepresented in Tesla’s management. A 2020 diversity report from Tesla said Black workers made up 10 percent of its workforce and 4 percent of its leadership.

Tesla has previously been sued for racial harassment and discrimination at its Fremont factory. In October last year, a judge awarded a Black former employee $137 million in damages after he reported a hostile work environment where he heard “daily racist epithets” including the n-word and was told to “go back to Africa” by colleagues.

In a blogpost preempting this new lawsuit from DFEH, Tesla said it “strongly opposes all forms of discrimination and harassment and has a dedicated Employee Relations team that responds to and investigates all complaints.”

The company also raised its status as “the last remaining automobile manufacturer in California” in the post, and said past DFEH investigations had found no evidence of misconduct at the plant. “Yet, at a time when manufacturing jobs are leaving California, the DFEH has decided to sue Tesla instead of constructively working with us,” said the company. “This is both unfair and counterproductive, especially because the allegations focus on events from years ago.”