Musk’s Tesla told to pay $188m over racist abuse
FRANCISCO: A California verdict ordering billionaire Elon Musk’s Tesla to pay a black former employee $US137M ($188m) in damages for turning a blind eye to racism the man encountered at its Silicon Valley car plant is a resounding warning to corporate America, his lawyer has claimed.
“They awarded an amount that could be a wake-up call for American corporations,” civil rights lawyer Larry Organ said.
“The message is don’t engage in racist conduct, and don’t allow racist conduct to continue.”
Owen Diaz was hired through a staffing agency as an elevator operator at the electric vehiclemaker’s Fremont factory between June 2015 and July 2016, where he was subjected to racist abuse and a hostile work environment, according to the court filing.
In his lawsuit, filed in 2017, Mr Diaz said African-american employees at the factory – where his son also worked and was also abused – were regularly subjected to racist and demeaning attacks.
“Tesla’s progressive image was a facade papering over its regressive, demeaning treatment of African-american employees,” the court filing read.
Mr Diaz said that despite complaints to supervisors, Tesla took no action to stop the vile abuse.
After the verdict, Tesla downplayed the allegations but agreed that at the time Mr Diaz worked there the firm “was not perfect”.