A lawsuit claiming that Tesla allowed racial harassment to go unchecked at its main assembly plant in the United States resulted in the company being ordered to pay $3.2 million.
On Monday, a federal jury in San Francisco, California awarded Owen Diaz, a former black worker at Tesla's Fremont factory, $175,000 for emotional distress and $3 million for punitive damages.
When Diaz experienced continuous harassment at her job as an elevator operator from 2015 to 2016, she claims Tesla did not respond.
Racist slurs, offensive caricatures, and swastikas allegedly appeared on bathroom walls as part of the harassment.
The verdict announced on Monday is less than what the jury had awarded Diaz in 2021.
The jury awarded a record-breaking fine for employment discrimination in the United States. They gave $7 million to Diaz for emotional distress damages and $130 million for punitive damages.
The amount was later reduced to $15 million by US District Judge William Orrick, who said it was the "highest award supported by the evidence". He cited Supreme Court precedent which says that punitive damages should generally not be ten times higher than other compensatory damages.
But, Auric upheld the jury's finding that Tesla was responsible for the damages, labeling the case's evidence "troublesome".
But, Diaz opted to seek a re-evaluation of the damages done to his case through a new trial. She described how the racism she faced during her testimony before a jury last week affected her mental health and caused problems with her son, who also worked for Tesla.
His attorney, Bernard Alexander, on Friday requested that the jury awarded him $160 million in damages for sending a message to major corporations like Tesla that discriminatory treatment is not acceptable.
According to California law, employers must take "reasonable steps" to address unfair treatment in the workplace, such as harassment based on race, gender, and other protected categories.
"Mr. Diaz's view on the world has changed," Alexander told the jury.
Tesla's lawyers described Diaz as aggressive and hyperbolic. He also criticized Diaz's efforts to get the most damage.
According to Tesla attorney Alex Spiro, the jury was told that they were "just throwing numbers at the screen like it's some kind of game show."
Diaz's legal team moved for a mistrial on Friday after Tesla's lawyers questioned witnesses about the allegedly racist and sexist comments. But, Judge Orick denied that these questions would prejudice the jury and denied the motion.
After the jury's verdict on Monday, Diaz can still request a new trial or appeal to the judge to re-evaluate the jury's decision.
Even though Tesla has denied any wrongdoing in all complaints alleging a hostile work environment, Diaz's case is one of many.
A former employee filed a lawsuit against the business for "massive sexual harassment". In June of last year, a group of 15 people who currently work or used to work at Tesla filed a lawsuit together in a California court. They said that they often faced racism while working there.
He said that it seems Tesla regularly discriminates based on race and does not hide it.
In February, some workers at a factory in Buffalo, New York, told the National Labor Relations Board that Tesla was treating them unfairly. He claimed that after launching union organizing efforts at the plant, he was unfairly fired.
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