California’s Civil Rights Department requested that Judge Evelio Grillo, who is overseeing Tesla’s racial bias case regarding its Fremont factory, limit a ruling made to request more information from the automaker, according to a report from Reuters.
The initial ruling was tentative and Grillo is expected to issue a finalized ruling in the next few days.
According to California laws, the civil rights department must investigate the allegations of discrimination complaints prior to suing Tesla, or the automaker could have details not adequately probed in the initial stage thrown out from the case.
The lawsuit alleges that Tesla workers at the company’s Fremont, California factory have been subject to racial bias and segregation, with discrimination against Black employees through job assignment, wages and overall discipline. Tesla has repeatedly denied the allegations.
Civil Rights Department lawyer Sirithon Thanasombat said on Tuesday that the courts can request information about whether or not a probe took place before the lawsuit, though it can’t ask about specific details or the adequacy of the investigation.
In response, Tesla lawyer Thomas Hill claimed that no probe had been performed at all prior to the case.
“Our defense with regard to at least some of the claims in this case is that no investigation was conducted at all,” Hill said.
Grillo said that not requiring the department to provide details may violate Tesla’s constitutional right to the trial, though he added that there should be limits to what information the department is required to share.
“You don’t get to inquire into the most minute details,” Grillo said. “But in between that and ‘trust us,’ there’s a big gap.”
Ex-Tesla Employee Rejects $15 Million Settlement in Race Bias Lawsuit https://t.co/pKpj9YQQMA
— TeslaNorth.com (@RealTeslaNorth) June 22, 2022
