EEOC sues Tesla, alleging widespread racist harassment of Black workers, retaliation against those who spoke out
A federal agency has sued Tesla over alleged widespread racist harassment of Black workers and retaliation against those who spoke out about the issues.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Tesla over alleged widespread racism and retaliation against Black workers.
The federal agency has the responsibility of enforcing laws against discrimination in the workplace.
Tesla was sued in California by the state's civil rights agency over similar allegations. A jury had previously ordered Tesla, Inc. to pay Owen Diaz $3.2 million as damages for being subjected to racist discrimination during his employment in 2015.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has sued the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued
Tesla
Elon Musk's electric vehicle maker was accused of violating federal law for tolerating widespread racial abuse of its Black workers and retaliating against some of them who refused to tolerate the harassment.
Tesla has not responded to CNBC's comment request immediately.
On Thursday, the federal agency that enforces civil rights laws and prevents workplace discrimination filed a lawsuit against Tesla.
The EEOC alleged in its complaint that non-Black offenders "bandied slurs, epithets and insults openly" near or around the production lines. Supervisors and managers allegedly witnessed the racially abusive conduct, but did not intervene or refused to do so.
The agency claimed that when Black employees at Tesla reported "slurs and insults, graffiti, and misconduct" to Tesla’s human resources department or employee relations team, or to other management personnel, Tesla refused to act and failed to do anything about the behavior.
Tesla had been sued before by the California state civil rights agency over
Related allegations
Tesla was also ordered by a jury to pay an ex-Black employee.
Owen Diaz
He was awarded damages of $3.2 million after a finding that he had been subjected to racist discrimination at work in 2015.
Last year was a
financial filing
Tesla's filing revealed that the EEOC issued a finding of cause against the company. The filing stated that Tesla then engaged in a mandatory conciliation with the EEOC. The conciliation process failed, leading to Thursday's lawsuit.
According to a CNBC statement, the EEOC wants "compensatory damages and punitive damage, back pay, and injunctive relief to reform Tesla's hiring practices in order to prevent discrimination in future."
The case is a lawsuit.
EEOC v Tesla, Inc.,
Case No. Case No.