With Tesla CEO Elon Musk facing scrutiny from seemingly every angle, a new lawsuit has hit the courts claiming that the billionaire entrepreneur has upheld a culture of discrimination and harassment at the company.
Tesla investor Solomon Chau accused Musk of allowing a “toxic workplace culture” to grow at the company, according to a complaint filed with a federal court in Austin, Texas, Automotive News reported on Friday.
The filing said that Musk and other executives at Tesla breached fiduciary duties by fostering an environment of discrimination and harassment and posing potential liabilities worth up to millions of dollars.
Elon Musk Files Appeal to Overturn SEC Oversight of His Twitter Account https://t.co/pW2vp7usEp
— TeslaNorth.com (@RealTeslaNorth) June 15, 2022
In the filing, Chau said, “This toxic work environment has gestated internally for years, and only recently has the truth about Tesla’s culture emerged, leading to legal action from government regulators and private parties alike.” Chau continued, “Tesla’s toxic workplace culture has caused financial harm and irreparable damage to the company’s reputation.”
Musk also faced another lawsuit yesterday by a Dogecoin investor, alleging the Tesla and SpaceX CEO of running a pyramid scheme to support the cryptocurrency. “Defendants were aware since 2019 that Dogecoin had no value yet promoted Dogecoin to profit from its trading,” said the lawsuit. “Musk used his pedestal as World’s Richest man to operate and manipulate the Dogecoin Pyramid Scheme for profit, exposure and amusement.”
The Dogecoin complaint was filed in federal court in Manhattan, by plaintiff Keith Johnson, who alleges Musk, Tesla and SpaceX are part of a pyramid scheme for the cryptocurrency, which has fallen in value as part of a recent widespread crypto sell-off. Johnson wants $86 billion in damages, while overall the lawsuit is seeking $258 billion.
Tesla also faces a racial discrimination lawsuit with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) over the mistreatment of black workers at the company’s Fremont factory.
Additionally, Musk faces scrutiny from a SpaceX flight attendant claiming Musk sexually harrassed her in 2016 — a claim which SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said she “believes to be false.”
