Tesla Hit by Class-Action Lawsuit Claiming Racial Discrimination

Nov. 13, 2017, at 5:34 p.m.

(Reuters) – U.S. automaker Tesla Inc on Monday was hit with a class-action lawsuit claiming its California production plant is a “hotbed for racist behavior.”

The lawsuit filed in California state court in Oakland is at least the third filed this year by black workers who say they were addressed using racial slurs and that the company ignored their complaints.

But Monday’s lawsuit, filed by former Tesla employee Marcus Vaughn, is the first to bring those claims on behalf of a large class of black workers at the automaker’s Fremont, California factory.

The company is also facing lawsuits accusing it of discrimination against gay and older workers. It has denied those claims.

Vaughn in the lawsuit says he was routinely called the “n-word” by supervisors and coworkers after he began working at the factory in April. He says he complained in writing to human resources officials, but the company never investigated his claims.

Vaughn says he was fired in October for “not having a positive attitude.” He is seeking unspecified damages under a California anti-discrimination law.