Tesla loses lawsuit and must pay ex-employee $137 million for racism

In an unprecedented court decision, Tesla loses former employee's lawsuit and will need to pay US$ 137 million to the same. Owen Diaz worked at the car company's plant in California, United States, and says he suffered racial discrimination in the workplace.

The case of racial discrimination

Owen joined in 2015 and served as an elevator operator at the Tesla factory. The professional claimed to have witnessed several times racist and derogatory attitudes towards him during his working hours by other employees. Likewise, insults were directed at him. The incidents had an emotional and psychological impact on the former employee, who claimed to have experienced disturbances due to the attacks.

The San Francisco court in charge of the case ruled that Tesla must pay $7 million for Owen's emotional damage and $130 million as punishment. The US justice says that the company neglected the case internally by not supervising its employees and letting attitudes like these happen, and also categorized the work environment as racially hostile.

Jerry Organ, the former employee's attorney, says the amount to be paid is the highest ever seen in a racial discrimination case in the United States, which should encourage other companies to take racial prejudice in the workplace more seriously. “Owen and I hope this sends a message to corporate America to look to your workplace and, if there are issues, take proactive steps to protect employees from racist conduct.” NPR.

What does Tesla say?

Although the attitude was decided, Tesla did not hesitate to disagree. In a publication on your official blog, the company claims it is innocent and tries to justify the problem by saying that Owen was just a contractor and not a contractor. In addition, the corporation says the accusations only came about because the professional was denied a job opportunity.

“Mr. Diaz made written complaints to his non-Tesla supervisors. This was well documented in the nine months he worked at our factory. […] There was no witness testimony or other evidence that anyone has ever heard the n word (racist term) used in relation to Mr. Diaz,” Tesla posted.

Even after denying everything, Tesla wanted to reinforce that it is changing its internal policy and that “it is still not perfect”. “We continue to grow and improve the way we address employee concerns. Occasionally we make mistakes and when that happens we must be held accountable,” the letter reiterates. While it won't change the court's final decision, Tesla appears to be concerned with maintaining a positive image for its internal employees.

O court case raises the racial issue in the workday, which, especially in the United States, is a topic that has gained great proportions. It is hoped that, at least, the unacceptable attitude will not continue to be reproduced by Elon Musk's Tesla or by other companies in any sector.

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Source: NPR