Social:Owen Diaz vs. Tesla

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Short description: Lawsuit
Owen Diaz vs. Tesla was a discrimination lawsuit filed against electric car manufacturer Tesla, Inc. The plaintiff, Owen Diaz, was an elevator operator at the Tesla Fremont Factory in California between 2015 and 2016. The lawsuit stated that Diaz faced constant harassment including racial slurs. According to the state's Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the Fremont factory is racially segregated and Black workers testify that they are subjected to racist slurs, racial drawings, and are given the most menial[1] and physically demanding work.[2] Working conditions at the plant are so unacceptable, the organization states, that many Black employees have been forced to quit.[2] J. Bernard Alexander III, one of Diaz's lawyers, told jurors that the use of the “n-word” was pervasive and virtually everywhere at Fremont factory.[3]

In 2021, a jury found for the plaintiff, and ordered Tesla to pay US$137 million in damages, of which $6.9 million were for emotional distress and $130 million were punitive damages.[4][5] The verdict is one of the most significant in this class of lawsuit.[6] In April 2022, federal judge William Orrick upheld the jury finding of Tesla's liability but reduced the total award down to $15 million. Tesla had sought to limit the damage to $600,000 in total.[7]

References

  1. Hepler, Lauren (2018-11-30). "Menial Tasks, Slurs and Swastikas: Many Black Workers at Tesla Say They Faced Racism" (in en-US). The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/30/business/tesla-factory-racism.html. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 Wiessner, Daniel; Jin, Hyunjoo (2022-02-11). "California sues Tesla over Black workers' allegations of discrimination" (in en). Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/business/california-agency-sues-tesla-over-alleged-discrimination-harassment-wsj-2022-02-10/. 
  3. Nayak, Malathi (2021-10-05). "Tesla is ordered to pay former worker $137 million for racism at plant" (in en-US). https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-10-04/tesla-ordered-to-pay-worker-137-million-for-racism-at-plant. 
  4. "Black ex-Tesla worker who claimed racial abuse awarded $137M" (in en). Associated Press. October 5, 2021. https://apnews.com/article/business-san-francisco-race-and-ethnicity-tesla-inc-african-americans-d74d7fc97fc5b0608c26015aa77d7c74. 
  5. Stempel, Jonathan (December 31, 2019). "Tesla must face lawsuit claiming racism at California factory" (in en). Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tesla-lawsuit-racism-idUSKBN1YZ18E. 
  6. Nayak, Malathi; Hull, Dana (October 5, 2021). "Tesla hit with $137 million judgement in workplace racism case" (in en). Fortune. https://fortune.com/2021/10/05/tesla-137-million-judgement-lawsuit-workplace-racism-case-owen-diaz/. 
  7. Stempel, Jonathan; Wiessner, Daniel (14 April 2022). "Judge finds Tesla liable to Black former worker who alleged bias, but slashes payout" (in en). Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-judge-cuts-verdict-tesla-race-bias-case-15-mln-137-mln-2022-04-14/.