A trial against electric vehicle giant Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) began Monday. The lawsuit comes from 2022 and follows a history of allegations against the company, with some settled out of court.
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California Civil Rights Department v. Tesla
Opening statements began Monday in the trial of the California Civil Rights Department v. Tesla. Similar to past lawsuits against the company, allegations include usage of the N-word and other racist slurs.
Other allegations include unequal pay and promotions for Black workers, bullying by supervisors, worker segregation and racist imagery at the California factory, according to a report from The Guardian.
Benzinga reached out to Tesla for comment and did not hear back.
California Civil Rights Department lawyer Brett Watson showed Judge Peter Borkon photographs from the Fremont factory of items like the N-word on a wall, "KKK," swastikas, the Confederate flag and "go back to Africa” on workplace areas such as lockers and lunch tables.
"These experiences cannot be dismissed as a few bad apples … hundreds of complaints to Tesla and [the Civil Rights Department] will show these experiences were not isolated," Watson said.
Watson accused Tesla of "rampant racism" that Tesla did not address for years.
The state of California called three witnesses after opening arguments, all former Black Tesla employees who witnessed or were subject to racism themselves while working at the Fremont factory.
The lawsuit was filed against Tesla back in February 2022.
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Tesla has called the lawsuit "misguided" and denied wrongdoing, according to the report. The EV giant says it previously disciplined and terminated employees who were involved in wrongdoing.
On Monday, Tesla attorney Tyree Jones argued in opening statements that Black employees use language like the N-word with themselves.
"The state is blaming the employer, when it’s the victim," Jones said.
What Happens Next
The trial is expected to last through Oct. 30.
Unlike some past Tesla trials, this will not be decided by a jury, and instead will see Borkon make a final ruling.
There is no cap on damages, with Reuters estimating that a win by the state of California could mean tens of millions of dollars and changes to Tesla’s policies.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is not expected to be called as a witness in the case and so far has not addressed the trial on social media in recent days.
The EV company has faced past allegations of racism before, including a 2022 case that saw a federal jury award former Tesla employee Owen Diaz $137 million. That sum was one of the largest awards ever from a discrimination lawsuit, but was later reduced to $15 million upon appeal and later to $3.2 million by a second jury after Diaz rejected the $15 million amount.
The potential loss of tens of millions of dollars for Tesla won’t be a huge financial loss, but the trial could have a larger impact on potential changes to the company’s factory policies and labor practices, along with getting negative attention for the way it treated workers in the past.
Image via Shutterstock
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