According to his lawyer, Lawrence Organ, a jury ordered Tesla to pay $137 million to Owen Diaz, a Black former employee who accused the company of ignoring racist discrimination he endured while working there.
According to NYT, Mr. Organ of the California Civil Rights Law Group remarked, “It’s a terrific thing when one of America’s wealthiest firms has to face up to the horrible conditions at its plant for Black people.”
Bloomberg News had previously reported on the jury’s ruling in federal court in San Francisco. Tesla’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Diaz said he was relieved by the jury’s decision in an interview.
On Monday evening, he stated, “It took four difficult years to get to this point.” “It seems like a huge burden has been lifted from my shoulders.”
In 2015 and 2016, Mr. Diaz worked as an elevator operator at Tesla’s manufacturing in Fremont, Calif., for nearly a year. There, he claimed, a boss and other coworkers routinely used racist insults to refer to him. Employees had reportedly drawn swastikas and carved a racial insult on a restroom stall, as well as left drawings of unflattering caricatures of Black youngsters throughout the workplace, according to him. Despite numerous complaints, he claims the firm did little to stop the practise.
“It’s not like they were deleting the unpleasant behaviour; they just kept allowing individuals to add to it,” he explained.
Mr. Organ said the jury agreed with Mr. Diaz’s argument that Tesla created a hostile work environment by neglecting to address the racism he faced after deliberating for nearly four hours. Punitive damages for the firm accounted for the significant majority of the award, which totaled $130 million. Mr. Organ explained that the rest was for Mr. Diaz’s emotional discomfort.
Despite the abuse he received, Mr. Diaz said he reached a breaking point when he heard racist slurs aimed at his son, Demetric, who had gotten a position at the company with Mr. Diaz’s help.
Mr. Diaz remarked, “My son watched his father get broken in front of him.”
Mr. Diaz claimed in his lawsuit that he felt “degraded, disrespected, and devalued.” He resigned in May of 2016. He sued Tesla alongside his son and another Black former employee, but only the accusations of the senior Mr. Diaz went to trial. It was unclear whether Tesla intended to appeal the ruling right away.
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The Chenab Times News Desk