The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed a lawsuit against Tesla, alleging that the electric car manufacturer violated federal laws by permitting “widespread and ongoing racial harassment” against its Black employees. The federal agency also accuses Tesla of retaliating against workers who opposed such harassment.
“The EEOC alleges that non-Black offenders at Tesla bandied slurs and epithets openly around high-traffic work areas,” said the federal agency in its complaint. The agency further stated that supervisors and managers at Tesla witnessed the racially offensive conduct but “failed or refused to intercede.”
When Black employees reported incidents of “slurs, insults, graffiti and misconduct” to Tesla’s human resources and managerial personnel, the company “failed and refused to take steps to address the behavior,” according to the EEOC, reports CNBC.
This lawsuit follows a previous case where Tesla was sued by a state civil rights agency in California over similar allegations. In a separate case, a jury ordered Tesla to pay approximately $3.2 million in damages to a Black former employee, Owen Diaz, for enduring racist discrimination while employed in 2015.
Last year, Tesla’s financial filing disclosed that the EEOC had issued a cause finding against the company. Subsequently, Tesla entered into a mandatory conciliation process with the EEOC, which was unsuccessful, leading to the current lawsuit.
The EEOC is seeking “compensatory and punitive damages, and back pay for the affected workers, as well as injunctive relief designed to reform Tesla’s employment practices,” according to a statement sent to CNBC.
The case, EEOC v Tesla, Case No. 4:23-cv-04984, has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Tesla has not yet responded to CNBC’s request for comment.
