U.S. federal agency sues Tesla for discrimination of Black employees

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a lawsuit against Tesla on Thursday, accusing the company of violating federal law by tolerating racial discrimination of its Black workers.

In April 2022, Tesla revealed in a financial filing that the EEOC had an "open investigation" into the company. Tesla had engaged in a mandatory conciliation process with the agency. The unsuccessful process led to the lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on Thursday.

The lawsuit accuses Tesla of violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, amended in 1991, which calls on employers to correct unlawful practices based on race.

The EEOC alleges that since at least 2015, Black employees at a Tesla factory have endured "severe or pervasive racial harassment" and "a hostile work environment."

"I saw KKK epithets, a swastika, and the N-word all over the bathroom," one Black worker was quoted as saying in the lawsuit. "It was so gross and racist I don't want to discuss it."

"Black employees reported the slurs, insults, graffiti and misconduct to Tesla's human resources, employee relations, and managerial personnel... Tesla failed and refused to take steps to address the behavior," reads the lawsuit.

The agency requests a jury trial to order Tesla to pay fines for breaking the law and to compensate the aggrieved individuals.

The EEOC also requests the court to grant a permanent injunction to Tesla management that engaged in racism and to order Tesla to institute and carry out policies to remedy the situation and protect Black workers in the future.