© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The TESLA brand is seen exterior a dealership within the Brooklyn borough of New York Metropolis, U.S., April 26, 2021. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
(Reuters) -A federal jury on Monday has ordered Tesla (NASDAQ:) Inc to pay greater than $130 million in damages to a Black former employee, discovering he was subjected to a racially hostile work surroundings, the Wall Road Journal reported.
The jury decided that the corporate did not take affordable steps to stop Owen Diaz, a contract employee who was employed as an elevator operator at Tesla’s Fremont manufacturing unit in 2015 and 2016, from being racially harassed, the newspaper stated.
In a message to staff that Tesla posted on its web site, the automaker famous the trial involved racial slurs heard on the manufacturing unit ground and racist graffiti within the bogs.
It additionally stated the thrice that Diaz complained about harassment, Tesla stepped in and made positive motion was taken by staffing businesses.
The jury awarded Diaz $6.9 million in compensatory damages and $130 million in punitive damages, in line with the newspaper.
“Whereas we strongly consider that these information do not justify the decision reached by the jury in San Francisco, we do acknowledge that in 2015 and 2016 we weren’t excellent,” Tesla stated.
Tesla didn’t instantly reply to a Reuters question asking if it will be interesting the decision. Diaz’s attorneys didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Earlier than the trial started, presiding decide William Orrick rejected efforts by Tesla to exclude one juror from the jury, saying he believed the try was based mostly on race and “purposefully discriminatory.”
Tesla stated in its weblog publish that since Diaz labored on the Fremont manufacturing unit it had made adjustments together with the institution of groups devoted to investigating worker complaints and to making sure staff had equal alternatives on the firm.
Final yr, the electrical carmaker disclosed in its first U.S. variety report that Black staff make up simply 4% of Tesla’s American management roles and 10% of its complete workforce within the nation.
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