A former Black factory worker at Tesla, Owen Diaz, has lost his bid for a mistrial after accusing the electric vehicle maker’s lawyers of violating court rules by trying to turn the jury against him.
During a pretrial conference, Judge William Orrick of the U.S. District Court denied the motion for a mistrial made by Diaz, who is suing the company for race discrimination. The judge ruled that Diaz failed to prove that comments made by Tesla’s lawyers had negatively impacted the jury. Additionally, Orrick cautioned Diaz’s lawyers against making personal attacks against the company’s legal team.
Diaz has sued Tesla for subjecting him to racial slurs, threats, and other incidents. A different jury in 2021 found Tesla liable for discrimination, and Diaz rejected a lowered award of $15 million and opted for a new trial on damages.
Tesla’s legal team improperly questioned Diaz and other witnesses during the trial about alleged incidents where Diaz called a coworker a “dumb Mexican” and asked a female employee if she dated Black men, alleged his lawyers on Friday.
Diaz denied making those comments, and his lawyers claimed that Tesla had violated the judge’s order prohibiting new evidence. The jury could render a verdict as soon as Friday afternoon, reports Reuters.
Tesla has maintained that it does not tolerate discrimination and takes workers’ complaints seriously. However, Diaz’s lawyers argued that Tesla’s policies on diversity and inclusion are inadequate, and its handling of racism allegations has been inadequate.
Tesla’s lawyers denied the allegations and argued that Diaz’s performance issues led to his termination. They also claimed that Diaz had fabricated some of the allegations against Tesla.
The jury’s decision will be significant in determining whether companies will face greater accountability for allegations of discrimination and racism in the workplace.
