12 ms·

Tesla sued for severe harassment of black workers at California plant

107 points by beardyw 3y ago

febra_ 3y ago
Unsurprising. I have some friends that worked in R&D for T. and have told me some horrifying stories.
- petargyurov 3y ago
  Do tell.
sepisoad 3y ago
[flagged]
- fooker 3y ago
  It’s always so, until you’re on the receiving end.
jillesvangurp 3y ago
It's sad that that happens of course but not unique to Tesla. Ford settled for some racism and sexism cases a few years ago: https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/ford-motor-company-pay-10125-million-settle-eeoc-harassment-investigation https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/ford-motor-company-pay-10125-m...
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
iwonthecase 3y ago
Again?
- nebula8804 3y ago
  Yeah I know right? Didn't they settle for a massive amount last time? I'll never forget the infamous 'lack of toilet paper' story that came out of Giga Nevada. It freakin came back when Musk bought Twitter: this time garbage piling up and no toilet paper at Twitter. I don't know what is it with Musk and toilet paper but it seems like all these companies have poor organizational issues.
olalonde 3y ago
Wouldn't it be more effective to pursue criminal charges against the individuals directly responsible? Graffitis, particularly when they involve symbols as disturbing as a noose, are not just offensive, they're criminal acts. They could even be classified as hate crimes or death threats. The perpetrators should be held responsible. Otherwise, they'll simply continue this harmful behavior in their future workplaces, knowing that there are no real consequences.
- rtpg 3y ago
  I think that this is two things: - these people doing this stuff - Tesla, once receiving complaints about it, not doing anything about this The important bit: > Tesla has failed to investigate complaints of racist conduct and has fired or otherwise retaliated against workers who reported harassment, the EEOC said in the lawsuit. I don't really know how labor law works on this front but if Tesla knew this was happening and did nothing about it I guess they are considered partly liable for... something?
  - pests 3y ago
    > but if Tesla knew this was happening and did nothing about it I guess they are considered partly liable for... something? Tesla has to provide a safe work environment. Just like they have to provide employees with equipment and training to not physically hurt themselves doing their job they need to provide resolution and training to prevent employees from hurting each other. > According to OSHA, bullying and intimidation constitute a form of workplace violence because workers do not deserve to be treated poorly or abused while trying to make a living.
  - oblio 3y ago
    It's worse than doing nothing. If you're retaliating you're helping the aggressor.
- fxd123 3y ago
  > Wouldn't it be more effective to pursue criminal charges against the individuals directly responsible? No, since criminal conviction has a higher threshold
racked 3y ago
[flagged]
- istjohn 3y ago
  Maybe we need more conscientiousness around race, not less, given what is described in the article.
- thereare5lights 3y ago
  [flagged]
  - silisili 3y ago
    I don't really have a dog in this fight, but black isn't a nationality...
    - thereare5lights 3y ago
      [flagged]
      - olalonde 3y ago
        FWIW, French, Spanish and Italian (and probably most languages as a matter of fact) do not capitalize nationalities, religions, languages or skin colors. It's indeed arbitrary and unnecessary.
- tomlockwood 3y ago
  [flagged]
  - thereare5lights 3y ago
    That's not even the worse part. The refusal to make a change that costs you nothing in order to stick it to people you don't like is much worse and indicates all sorts of behaviors you do not want on your team.
Slava_Propanei 3y ago
[dead]
thinkcontext 3y ago
Most companies would opt to settle this type of thing, it's interesting that Tesla has chosen to not do that. Seems very Muskian. It's especially curious in light of their early complaint in a separate but related action by CA in which they complained they weren't given the opportunity to settle. They said those charges were politically motivated, I would assume they'll make the same case here.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
RiOuseR 3y ago
[dead]
tim333 3y ago
I'm not sure with this case but with a previous one "California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) ... lawsuit against Tesla alleging systematic racial discrimination and harassment." it appeared they were out to get Tesla without much evidence the company was behaving particularly badly. I mean in a plant with 30,000 employees someone's probably going to say something racist to someone else but it's a question of whether the company tries to stop it which it seemed they did. Tesla press release at the time: https://www.tesla.com/blog/dfehs-misguided-lawsuit https://www.tesla.com/blog/dfehs-misguided-lawsuit

107 points by beardyw 3y ago

febra_ 3y ago

Unsurprising. I have some friends that worked in R&D for T. and have told me some horrifying stories.

petargyurov 3y ago
Do tell.

sepisoad 3y ago

[flagged]

fooker 3y ago
It’s always so, until you’re on the receiving end.

jillesvangurp 3y ago

It's sad that that happens of course but not unique to Tesla. Ford settled for some racism and sexism cases a few years ago: https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/ford-motor-company-pay-10125-million-settle-eeoc-harassment-investigation https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/ford-motor-company-pay-10125-m...

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

iwonthecase 3y ago

Again?

nebula8804 3y ago
Yeah I know right? Didn't they settle for a massive amount last time? I'll never forget the infamous 'lack of toilet paper' story that came out of Giga Nevada. It freakin came back when Musk bought Twitter: this time garbage piling up and no toilet paper at Twitter. I don't know what is it with Musk and toilet paper but it seems like all these companies have poor organizational issues.

olalonde 3y ago

Wouldn't it be more effective to pursue criminal charges against the individuals directly responsible? Graffitis, particularly when they involve symbols as disturbing as a noose, are not just offensive, they're criminal acts. They could even be classified as hate crimes or death threats. The perpetrators should be held responsible. Otherwise, they'll simply continue this harmful behavior in their future workplaces, knowing that there are no real consequences.

rtpg 3y ago
I think that this is two things: - these people doing this stuff - Tesla, once receiving complaints about it, not doing anything about this The important bit: > Tesla has failed to investigate complaints of racist conduct and has fired or otherwise retaliated against workers who reported harassment, the EEOC said in the lawsuit. I don't really know how labor law works on this front but if Tesla knew this was happening and did nothing about it I guess they are considered partly liable for... something?
- pests 3y ago
  > but if Tesla knew this was happening and did nothing about it I guess they are considered partly liable for... something? Tesla has to provide a safe work environment. Just like they have to provide employees with equipment and training to not physically hurt themselves doing their job they need to provide resolution and training to prevent employees from hurting each other. > According to OSHA, bullying and intimidation constitute a form of workplace violence because workers do not deserve to be treated poorly or abused while trying to make a living.
- oblio 3y ago
  It's worse than doing nothing. If you're retaliating you're helping the aggressor.
fxd123 3y ago
> Wouldn't it be more effective to pursue criminal charges against the individuals directly responsible? No, since criminal conviction has a higher threshold

racked 3y ago

[flagged]

istjohn 3y ago
Maybe we need more conscientiousness around race, not less, given what is described in the article.
thereare5lights 3y ago
[flagged]
- silisili 3y ago
  I don't really have a dog in this fight, but black isn't a nationality...
  - thereare5lights 3y ago
    [flagged]
    - olalonde 3y ago
      FWIW, French, Spanish and Italian (and probably most languages as a matter of fact) do not capitalize nationalities, religions, languages or skin colors. It's indeed arbitrary and unnecessary.
tomlockwood 3y ago
[flagged]
- thereare5lights 3y ago
  That's not even the worse part. The refusal to make a change that costs you nothing in order to stick it to people you don't like is much worse and indicates all sorts of behaviors you do not want on your team.

Slava_Propanei 3y ago

[dead]

thinkcontext 3y ago

Most companies would opt to settle this type of thing, it's interesting that Tesla has chosen to not do that. Seems very Muskian. It's especially curious in light of their early complaint in a separate but related action by CA in which they complained they weren't given the opportunity to settle. They said those charges were politically motivated, I would assume they'll make the same case here.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

RiOuseR 3y ago

[dead]

tim333 3y ago

I'm not sure with this case but with a previous one "California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) ... lawsuit against Tesla alleging systematic racial discrimination and harassment." it appeared they were out to get Tesla without much evidence the company was behaving particularly badly. I mean in a plant with 30,000 employees someone's probably going to say something racist to someone else but it's a question of whether the company tries to stop it which it seemed they did. Tesla press release at the time: https://www.tesla.com/blog/dfehs-misguided-lawsuit https://www.tesla.com/blog/dfehs-misguided-lawsuit