Elon Musk’s Tesla is being sued by the state of California for maintaining a “racially segregated workplace.”
The state of California sued Tesla on Wednesday, alleging that it discriminated against black employees and maintained a “racially segregated workplace” at its Bay Area headquarters.
The case was filed in Alameda County Superior Court on Wednesday, according to the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, although it has yet to be made public. Tesla called the action “misguided.”
According to the Verge, the claim alleges that Tesla managers, workers, and supervisors used racial slurs at its Fremont, California, factory, including the N-word, “monkey toes,” “porch monkey,” and “hood rat.”
According to a copy of the complaint, black employees also noticed racist graffiti throughout the workplace, including lines like “all monkeys work outside,” “fuck [N-words],” and “hang [N-words]” next to a drawing of a noose.
According to the Verge storey, managers at the Elon Musk-owned automaker either participated in or overlooked racist discrimination and handed black workers more arduous tasks while passing them over for advancements, according to the suit.
Kevin Kish, the director of the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, said the suit was based on allegations from hundreds of Tesla employees in a statement to numerous news agencies.
In a blog post published on Wednesday, before the litigation was made public, Tesla termed it “misguided.”
“Tesla vehemently rejects all types of discrimination and harassment, and has a dedicated Employee Relations team that responds to and investigates all complaints,” the company said, noting that the alleged wrongdoing took place between 2015 and 2019.
Tesla was forced to pay a stunning $137 million to a black former contractor called Owen Diaz who claimed he was subjected to discriminatory abuse at the Fremont factory in 2015 and 2016.
Diaz’s case against Tesla included some of the same charges as California’s, such as racist graffiti and the usage of the N-word.
“Tesla’s progressive image was a ruse to hide its regressive, humiliating treatment of African-American employees,” Diaz claimed in his lawsuit.
