Another Black Employee Sues Tesla – Says White Workers Tormented Him
Another Black worker is reportedly suing tech giant Tesla, claiming white workers tormented him with race-based abuses and hostile behavior.
According to Mercury News – the worker alleged in his lawsuit against Tesla that the company fired him because he reported life-threatening safety violations in the plant.
“[He] was fired for two reasons: his commitment to safety and his race,” the lawsuit filed in Alameda County Superior Court claimed, the paper reported.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit and other suits claiming Tesla allowed widespread racism in its facilities.
What happened
According to the suit, the worker was hired in November 2018 as a project-quality manager working in two Tesla factories. About a month into the position, he noticed a white Tesla contractor he was working with had a ringtone that triggered memories of his time working in a war-torn country.
He explained to the contractor, in front of several coworkers, why the ringtone bothered him. The worker added that he was twice injured in the country due to explosions.
The contractor refused to change the ringtone and instead kept it to torment him. Soon after, a white superintendent and other white workers set their phones to the same tone to harass the Black worker.
The lawsuit also details other acts of hostile and racist treatment.
The Black worker alleged Tesla management failed to correct numerous serious safety violations because “Tesla’s commitments to unrealistic production goals and frantic efforts to ramp up its production, often to make good on rash promises, overrode any commitment to employee safety.”
The worker is seeking unspecified damages, reported Black Enterprise.
We have requested a comment from Tesla.
Update: This article was updated on September 17, 2024 to remove references to personal information and to respect the privacy of those mentioned.
