Elon Musk’s electric car developer Tesla is making the headlines once again, as a group of black employees have filed a lawsuit against the company alleging it failed to stop the racial discrimination they were forced to endure while working there.
More specifically, the lawsuit detailed how fifteen employees were harassed during their time at Tesla, with their colleagues making common use of racial slurs, derogatory comments, and other similar demeaning terms.
Additionally, there were allegedly racist remarks painted in graffiti at the common areas of the office, using harsh words or terms such as “KKK”, the N-word and even swastikas. The words “slavery” or “plantation” were also commonly used to describe the work culture at the company’s factories, according to the allegations.
The employees also claimed that the company did nothing to put a stop to this environment, rather they spurred it on with their indifference. In fact, some of the workers were even disciplined for making “repeated complaints”.
It goes even further. One of the fifteen employees, Jasmin Wilson, pointed out she had been sexually harassed in the workspace, with her superiors doing nothing to put a stop to this situation and instead taking action against her whenever she made a complaint.
Another of the fifteen named Nathaniel Gonsalves claims he was fired without warning after nine years of working for the company due to the numerous complaints he made for racial discrimination. Many others reported that they weren’t allowed to climb up the corporate ladder strictly on the basis of their race an they were given the most physically demanding jobs at their workspace.
This is just one of many lawsuits that Tesla has been hit with in recent months regarding incidents of racial or sexual nature. Last February, the company received a lawsuit from California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing who alleged that Tesla’s factory was not an appropriate workplace for black people.
In response to the allegations, Tesla has released a blog post through which it denies the accusations, pointing out that it “opposes all forms of discrimination and harassment.”
