Tesla went to trial Monday in California over allegations that Black workers at its Fremont factory endured years of racial harassment and discrimination while the company failed to stop it.
The case was brought by the California Civil Rights Department, which accuses the electric vehicle manufacturer of allowing racial slurs, racist graffiti, and other harassment to become widespread at the Fremont assembly plant. The state also alleges that Black employees were concentrated in more difficult and lower-paying jobs, received less compensation, and had fewer opportunities for promotion. Tesla denies wrongdoing and has said it does not tolerate discrimination.
The trial began September 21 in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland before Judge Peter Borkon and is scheduled to continue through October 30. It is a bench trial, meaning Borkon, rather than a jury, will hear the evidence and decide whether Tesla violated California employment law.
For the workers involved, the case reaches well beyond offensive words written on a wall or spoken on a factory floor. California’s allegations describe a workplace where race allegedly affected everyday experiences — the jobs people received, what they were paid, whether they advanced and what happened when they complained.
The Civil Rights Department filed the lawsuit in 2022 after what it described as a nearly three-year investigation prompted by hundreds of worker complaints. The agency sued under California’s Fair Employment and...
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