Administration sues Tesla for allegedly allowing racial harassment at California plant

The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed a lawsuit against Tesla for allegedly allowing racial harassment of black employees working at its Fremont (California) factory.

In their lawsuit -filed in US District Court for the Northern District of California-, the federal agency detailed that "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," also that "slurs were used casually and openly in high-traffic areas and at worker hubs" against these workers.

The EEOC adds that "Black employees regularly encountered graffiti, swastikas, threats, and nooses, on desks and other equipment, in bathroom stalls, within elevators, and even on new vehicles rolling off the production line."

Charlotte A. Burrows, EEOC Chair, said: "Today's lawsuit makes clear that no company is above the law, and the EEOC will vigorously enforce federal civil rights protections to help ensure American workplaces are free from unlawful harassment and retaliation."

If convicted, Tesla could face large financial fines.

It is not the first federal lawsuit that a Musk company has faced this year

Elon Musk's companies have already faced accusations this year. SpaceX was sued by the Department of Justice (DOJ) after alleging that the aerospace company discriminated against asylum seekers and refugees. He noted that, from at least September 2018 to May 2022, the company discouraged these groups from applying for jobs and refused to hire them, which would be a violation of the Immigration and Nationality Law.