Tesla’s Fremont, California, plant has been the subject of a number of lawsuits over racial discrimination. Now, in addition to employees and the California Civil Right Department, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is suing the company for allegedly allowing racial harassment to run rampant, and for retaliating against workers who brought forward their concerns.
The lawsuit is just the latest in a series of legal actions being taken against the EV manufacturer. Over the course of the last several years, Black employees, women, and others have come forward with alarming allegations against the company.
Now, the EEOC is taking up the issue as well, claiming that Tesla violated federal law by allowing widespread and ongoing racial harassment. Moreover, it alleges that some employees faced retaliation for opposing their treatment.
Read: More Than A Dozen Tesla Employees Sue Automaker Over Racial Abuse
Allegations of widespread racist harassment
According to the EEOC, the entity responsible for safeguarding the civil rights of American workers, there have been ongoing issues at Tesla’s Fremont, California manufacturing facilities from at least 2015 to the present. The EEOC reports that Black employees at this location have consistently experienced racial abuse, widespread stereotyping, and hostility, and enduring derogatory epithets such as “variations of the ‘N-word’, ‘monkey,’ ‘boy,’ and ‘black b***h’.”
“Slurs were used casually and openly in high-traffic areas and at worker hubs,” said the EEOC in a news release announcing the lawsuit. “Black employees regularly encountered graffiti, including variations of the N-word, swastikas, threats, and nooses, on desks and other equipment, in bathroom stalls, within elevators, and even on new vehicles rolling off the production line.”
“When you let a standard slip, you’ve set a new standard. Determining that prolific racial slurs do not merit serious discipline and failing to correct harassing conduct sends an entirely wrong message to employees,” said Nancy Sienko, EEOC San Francisco district office director. “It also violates an employer’s legal responsibility to act swiftly and effectively to stop race-based harassment.”
It further alleges that its investigations found that employees who raised objections to this racism were terminated, forced to change job duties, were transferred, or suffered other retaliatory actions for bringing it up.
The EEOC says that it is launching its lawsuit after attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through conciliation. It is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, back pay for affected workers, and an injunctive relief that is intended to reform Tesla’s employment practices, in order to stop this happening in the future. The case was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
