Photo: Tesla
Tesla’s recent blog post about its footprint in California starts to make more and more sense. The EV maker is in a legal dispute with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) after the agency accused Tesla of “systematic racial discrimination and harassment.” In its second attempt not to face trial, the EV maker’s countersuit failed to dismiss the original lawsuit.
Tesla’s first attempt to get rid of the serious accusations was a direct request for the Alameda County Superior Court judge to throw out California’s complaint. The EV maker’s main argument was that the civil rights department did not try to solve the situation with Tesla before suing and did not provide enough information about what was wrong in the company’s plants and offices in the state. It did not work.
The second attempt not to face a judge was to use an opposing lawsuit arguing that the DFEH legal action was unlawful, but that also did not go as planned. According to Bloomberg, judge Evelio Grillo filed a tentative ruling throwing out Tesla’s counterclaims. He also told Tesla it could revise and refile its claims until February 3, possibly trying to give the EV maker another chance to present a more convincing case.
It does not seem that Tesla will manage to dismiss the racism accusations. The company is facing several other lawsuits based on the same problem. In at least two of them, it already lost. Owen Diaz initially won $136.9 million, but the EV maker appealed the decision, managed to reduce the damages to $15 million, and will face a new jury trial to define new compensations to the former contractor. Tesla tried to overturn the racism conviction, but the court said that has already been proven: the only dispute is defining how much it owes Diaz for what he went through in Fremont.
Apart from racism, Tesla is also facing a lawsuit for allowing sexual harassment on its premises. The Rolling Stone magazine managed to talk to five of the seven women who are suing the EV maker, and what they shared was terrifying. Having to build a fortress with boxes in the workstation, or running from a drunk co-worker in a parking lot are just two examples of things these female Tesla employees had to endure to keep what they deemed good-paying jobs. They eventually gave up, some of them suffering from depression and other health issues.
In common, all racism and sexual harassment cases were reported to Tesla’s human resources department, but nothing changed. The EV maker’s Vice President of People at the time was an Afro-American lady who defended the company when it was convicted in Diaz’s case. Valerie Capers Workman left Tesla about one year ago. In the end, the DFEH lawsuit which Bloomberg (requires subscription) reported may be just another one. Tesla may have to write more blog posts to cope with all of them.
The second attempt not to face a judge was to use an opposing lawsuit arguing that the DFEH legal action was unlawful, but that also did not go as planned. According to Bloomberg, judge Evelio Grillo filed a tentative ruling throwing out Tesla’s counterclaims. He also told Tesla it could revise and refile its claims until February 3, possibly trying to give the EV maker another chance to present a more convincing case.
It does not seem that Tesla will manage to dismiss the racism accusations. The company is facing several other lawsuits based on the same problem. In at least two of them, it already lost. Owen Diaz initially won $136.9 million, but the EV maker appealed the decision, managed to reduce the damages to $15 million, and will face a new jury trial to define new compensations to the former contractor. Tesla tried to overturn the racism conviction, but the court said that has already been proven: the only dispute is defining how much it owes Diaz for what he went through in Fremont.
Apart from racism, Tesla is also facing a lawsuit for allowing sexual harassment on its premises. The Rolling Stone magazine managed to talk to five of the seven women who are suing the EV maker, and what they shared was terrifying. Having to build a fortress with boxes in the workstation, or running from a drunk co-worker in a parking lot are just two examples of things these female Tesla employees had to endure to keep what they deemed good-paying jobs. They eventually gave up, some of them suffering from depression and other health issues.
In common, all racism and sexual harassment cases were reported to Tesla’s human resources department, but nothing changed. The EV maker’s Vice President of People at the time was an Afro-American lady who defended the company when it was convicted in Diaz’s case. Valerie Capers Workman left Tesla about one year ago. In the end, the DFEH lawsuit which Bloomberg (requires subscription) reported may be just another one. Tesla may have to write more blog posts to cope with all of them.
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