Following a court’s ruling that Tesla must pay $137 million USD to a former contract worker who endured a racially hostile work environment last month, the company is reportedly pushing back on the awarded amount.
Tesla asked the federal court in San Francisco to put aside the $137 million USD awarded to former contract worker Owen Diaz, an amount which is believed to be the largest in U.S. history for a single plaintiff involved in a racial discrimination case, according to Automotive News.
In a filing with the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, Tesla said the award amount “simply cannot stand,” also calling the amount “without precedent.”
Elon Musk is Defending Tesla’s Decision to Buy SolarCity in Court https://t.co/a9M5mzhX56
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In the filing, dated November 16, Tesla said, “It is an award without precedent in U.S. anti-discrimination law. It dwarfs awards in similar – and even in the most egregious – cases. And it bears no relationship to the actual evidence at trial.”
One of the case’s jurors stated to Bloomberg that the award in punitive damages was intended to encourage Tesla officials to “take the most basic preventative measures and precautions they neglected to take as a large corporation to protect any employee within their factory.”
Arizona State University Law Professor Michael Selmi says the award could be reduced to half the amount, since it’s higher than the jury’s emotional distress punitive damages, which sought to award Diaz $6.9 million USD.
