SAN FRANCISCO - A California agency filed a racial discrimination complaint against Tesla on Wednesday, accusing the electric carmaker of racial segregation at its factory in the US state, according to a statement.
The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) "found evidence that Tesla's Fremont factory is a racially segregated workplace where Black workers are subjected to racial slurs and discriminated against in job assignments, discipline, pay, and promotion," said Kevin Kish, the agency's director.
Black workers at the factory were regularly subjected to deeply offensive racial slurs and racist jokes by co-workers and managers, the complaint said.
Kish said the agency received hundreds of complaints from workers at the plant.
"The facts on this case speak for themselves," he said.
Ahead of the filing, Tesla released a statement Tuesday saying it "opposes all forms of discrimination and harassment" and said it is committed to providing "a workplace that is safe, respectful, fair and inclusive." But excerpts of the complaint, released by the agency and filed in a California court late Wednesday, paint a very different picture.
The agency said non-Black workers would regularly refer to areas where many Black or African-American workers were stationed with racist historical names, including "the plantation".
Workers would commonly be "taunted by racial slurs and then baited into verbal and physical confrontations" by non-Black workers and would subsequently face disciplinary action, the complaint said.
Non-Black workers were frequently given preferential treatment at the plant, according to the filing, including being handed easier jobs and given greater leniency in disciplinary proceedings compared to their Black or African-American colleagues.
One worker "heard these racial slurs as often as 50-100 times a day" and workers with racially incendiary tattoos of the Confederate flag would make them visible to intimidate Black employees, the DFEH said.
The company, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, has been hit with several lawsuits alleging discrimination at the California factory in recent months.
In December, six women sued the company, alleging a culture of sexual harassment at the plant and other facilities. The lawsuits were filed within a month of two others. - AFP