Tesla to Pay $3.2M to Ex-Worker in Racism Case

A former black contract worker at Tesla's Fremont factory has been awarded $3.2 million by a federal jury in San Francisco after suing the automaker for violating a California law that prohibits employers from failing to address hostile work environments based on race or other protected traits. The worker, who had been hired by a staffing agency, accused Tesla of failing to act when he repeatedly complained to managers that employees at the factory frequently used racist slurs and drew swastikas, racist caricatures and racial epithets on walls and work areas. The jury awarded $175,000 in damages for emotional distress and $3 million in punitive damages designed to punish unlawful conduct and deter it in the future.