The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed a lawsuit against Tesla, accusing the automaker of violating federal law by tolerating widespread and ongoing racial harassment of its Black employees and subjecting some workers to retaliation for opposing harassment. The lawsuit alleges that since at least 2015, Black employees at Tesla’s Fremont assembly plant have endured “severe or pervasive racial harassment” and “a hostile work environment”, including being called “lazy,” “smelly” and “always late”, and being subjected to slurs and epithets such as variations of the N-word, “monkey,” “boy,” and “black bitch”. The EEOC is requesting a jury trial and is asking the court to order Tesla to pay damages to the aggrieved individuals, as well as fines for breaking the law.
