Tesla CEO Elon Musk is seen on September 25, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. Tesla, Inc. is being sued by the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for "widespread and ongoing" racial harassment of its Black employees at the carmaker's plant in Fremont, California and for retaliating against workers who spoke out about the issue. File Photo by: zz/Wil R/STAR MAX/IPx 2020 9/25/20
Electric car company Tesla has been sued for allegedly subjecting Black employees to the open use of verbal racial slurs and threats and racist and threatening images throughout the workplace — even on new vehicles rolling off the production line.
According to the complaint filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), "pervasive stereotyping and hostility" was commonplace at Tesla's Fremont, California plant and as well as epithets and variations of anti-Black racist and sexist slurs. The degrading language was allegedly used openly in high-traffic areas and at worker hubs, and Black employees regularly encountered graffiti that depicted variations of the racial slurs as well as racist iconography, including swastikas and nooses.
The EEOC's 12-page lawsuit filed Thursday alleges that since at least 2015, Tesla has subjected its Black employees to a hostile work environment in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The federal agency said that it has attempted to settle the case with Tesla without the need for litigation, but those attempts were unsuccessful.
Editor's note: this story includes references to racist and antisemitic slurs.
According to the complaint, race-based stereotyping permeated the Fremont factory, subjecting Black employees to racial hostility and offenses on a near-daily basis — and that the behavior went all the way up the managerial chain.
"The racial misconduct was frequent, ongoing, inappropriate, unwelcome and occurred across all shifts, departments, and positions, including but not limited to the Production Associate position," the lawsuit says. "Non-Black managers and non-Black non-managerial employees, and temporary workers alike directly addressed Black employees individually and collectively as N-Words."
Black employees "have also withstood offensive, racial stereotyping," including insults about work ethic and hygiene, the complaint says. Black workers were also allegedly taunted by non-Black employees who were "making 'monkey' noises," the complaint says.
The complaint describes a workplace where the use of racial slurs was an everyday, casual occurrence.
"Non-Black employees have begun otherwise innocuous interactions with Black employees with phrases, such as, 'Hey, N—-, can you hand me that …?'" the complaint says. "A Black worker explained that such slurs were, 'casual and normal.'"
The lawsuit also describes a regular barrage of degrading language and symbols throughout the workplace.
"Black employees also encountered displays of racist graffiti, including swastikas, threats, and nooses," the complaint says. "They found such graffiti on a variety of surfaces including on desks, in elevators, and on equipment, including vehicles rolling off the production lines."
"Black employees have described the prevalence of racist imagery as 'frequent,' 'constant,' 'a regular thing,' and occurring 'too many times to count,'" the complaint adds.
On at least one occasion, an employee used an anti-Black racial slur in an apparent insult to non-binary people.
"One worker described the N-Word as both his White co-workers' and supervisor's preferred pronoun on the production line," the complaint says.
The lawsuit says that management witnessed the racist acts "but failed or refused to intercede" — and the Black employees who reported the behavior suffered for it.
"Tesla has fired Black employees within weeks of them reporting or opposing racial harassment," the complaint says. "Tesla fired one Black employee who had opposed harassment right after advising her of Tesla's policy not to retaliate."
Black employees who complained about the alleged racism were also subjected to retaliation in the form of "schedule changes, less desirable duties, reassignments, unjustified write-ups, and discharge," the lawsuit says.
"Every employee deserves to have their civil rights respected, and no worker should endure the kind of shameful racial bigotry our investigation revealed," said EEOC Chair Charlotte A. Burrows in a statement. "Today's lawsuit makes clear that no company is above the law, and the EEOC will vigorously enforce federal civil rights protections to help ensure American workplaces are free from unlawful harassment and retaliation."
EEOC San Francisco District Office Director Nancy Sienko commented that employers have a legal responsibility to act swiftly and effectively to stop race-based harassment.
"Determining that prolific racial slurs do not merit serious discipline and failing to correct harassing conduct sends an entirely wrong message to employees," Sienko said.
The current lawsuit is not the first time the electric-vehicle company has faced legal action over racial discrimination. A jury previously ordered Tesla to pay a Black former worker, Owen Diaz, over $3 million in damages after finding he endured racist discrimination while working there in 2015.
Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk has himself been accused of promoting racism and espousing antisemitic theories, particularly on the social media platform X — formerly known as Twitter — which he now owns.
Tesla did not immediately respond to request for comment.
You can read the full complaint here.
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