Electric car maker Tesla has been sued by a US civil rights agency claiming that Black employees have been subjected to widespread racial harassment.
In the lawsuit filed on Thursday, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) says that Tesla, Inc., violated federal law by tolerating the alleged harassment.
According to the EEOC’s suit, since at least 2015 to the present, Black employees at Tesla’s Fremont, California manufacturing facilities have routinely endured racial abuse, pervasive stereotyping, and hostility as well as epithets such as variations of the N-word, "monkey," "boy," and "black b*tch."
Slurs were used casually and openly in high-traffic areas and at worker hubs.
Black employees regularly encountered graffiti, including variations of the N-word, swastikas, threats, and nooses, on desks and other equipment, in bathroom stalls, within elevators, and even on new vehicles rolling off the production line, the EEOC said.
The EEOC’s investigation also found that those who raised objections to racial hostility suffered various forms of retaliation, including terminations, changes in job duties, transfers, and other adverse employment actions.
According to a statement issued by EEOC, they first tried to attempt to reach a pre-litigation settlement through conciliation.
The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages, and back pay for the affected workers, as well as injunctive relief designed to reform Tesla’s employment practices to prevent such discrimination in the future.
Tesla was co-founded by billionaire Elon Musk who was born and bred in South Africa.
According to a report in Reuters, Tesla was not immediately available for comment.
