Tesla Settles Lawsuit With Black Worker Who Says Employees Told Him “Welcome To The Plantation” & “Welcome To The Slave House”

Tesla has reached a settlement with Raina Pierce, a Black employee who sued the company for racial and gender-based discrimination while working at its Fremont, California plant. According to court documents filed in San Francisco, the settlement was finalized on Thursday, though the specific terms remain confidential. Pierce alleged that a manager would greet her with phrases like “welcome to the plantation” and “welcome to the slave house,” contributing to what she described as a hostile work environment.

Pierce’s lawsuit detailed a range of discriminatory experiences, including being called gender-based slurs, seeing racial graffiti in restrooms, and being subjected to harsher disciplinary actions than her non-Black coworkers. “You need to go to HR because these leads are saying things about you that are not right,” one coworker told her, urging her to speak out. Despite taking these concerns to management, Pierce said her complaints were largely ignored or mishandled.

This is not the first time Tesla’s Fremont facility has faced allegations of racism. In a separate 2017 case, Owen Diaz, a Black former elevator operator, sued Tesla for enduring daily racial slurs, seeing swastikas drawn on surfaces throughout the plant, and witnessing other racist behavior. He was initially awarded $137 million by a jury in 2021, a figure later deemed excessive by a judge. After a retrial, Diaz was awarded $3.2 million in 2023 before both sides agreed to settle the case.

Tesla is also confronting a broader class action lawsuit filed on behalf of thousands of current and former Black employees and contractors. This lawsuit accuses the company of enabling a racially hostile workplace, including the use of slurs and racist graffiti, and seeks a court order to prohibit such conditions moving forward. The plaintiffs are also pushing for mandated harassment training for all Tesla staff. The company has denied all allegations in court filings.

As scrutiny over workplace equity at Tesla grows, the settlements and pending cases spotlight longstanding concerns about discrimination at one of the world’s most high-profile tech companies.

Link: The-Independent