NY Daily News
The floor of Tesla Motor's California car factory has become a "hotbed for racist behavior" where the N-word is thrown around without punishment, a former employee claims in a new lawsuit.
Marcus Vaughn, a former plant worker fired earlier this year, charged the company with fostering racist behavior at its massive factory. But Tesla claims it resolved the issue earlier this year and said Vaughn was never directly employed by the electric car company.
His lawsuit, filed on Monday, claims Tesla supervisors referred to him with the N-word during his six months working at the Fremont, Calif., electric car facility.
Vaughn's complaints went unheard when he brought the issue to his supervisors, human resources and even a letter addressed to CEO Elon Musk, his lawsuit says.
His attorneys want the legal action be certified as a class action lawsuit, so other former and current black employees might be brought in. Up to 100 of them have been subjected to racist behavior at the plant, the court filing states.
"Although Tesla stands out as a groundbreaking company at the forefront of the electric car revolution, its standard operating procedure at the Tesla Factory is pre-Civil Rights Era race discrimination," the lawsuit reads.
"Race harassment has continued at the Tesla Factory, and became more widespread, because despite their knowledge of the harassment, Defendants have done nothing that could be reasonably expected to stop it."
Vaughn began at the plant last April as an assembly worker. Almost immediately his supervisors started referring to him with the N-word and demonstrated other racist behavior.
He notes in the lawsuit that many other black employees were treated the same way, but management didn't investigate their complaints.
Vaughn says he was fired from the factory last month for "not having a positive attitude."
The court documents also cite several past instances of black employees suing Tesla for racial discrimination at the car factory.
The lawsuit implies Musk endorsed not prying too much into the behavior in a May 31 memo to the factory's employees.
"Part of not being a huge jerk is considering how someone might feel who is part of (a) historically less represented group," Musk wrote in the memo, which was attached to the lawsuit.
"Sometimes these things happen unintentionally, in which case you should apologize," he continued. "In fairness, if someone is a jerk to you, but sincerely apologizes, it is important to be thick-skinned and accept that apology."
Vaughn's filing argues Musk's suggestion the N-word can be thrown around "unintentionally" shows "it is not surprising that the Tesla Factory has become a hotbed for racist behavior."
The company said Musk's May 31 memo was taken out of context, and released the full email.
Tesla, in a statement Tuesday, argued Musk's email to employees was taken out of context.
"As one of many points in that email, Elon also explained that if someone makes an offensive or hurtful statement on a single occasion, but subsequently offers a sincere apology, then we believe that apology should be accepted," Tesla said in a lengthy statement.
"The counterpoint would be that a single careless comment should ruin a person's life and career, even if they truly regret their action and do their best to make amends. That would be a cold world with no forgiveness and no heart."
The company also dismissed Vaughn's claim that up to 100 workers could join the suit as "a complete fabrication with no basis in fact at all."
Executives went on to say Vaughn was hired by a temp agency for a six-month contract that ended in October.
It also said it launched a probe into the complaints, finding "conflicting accusations and counter-accusations between several African-American and Hispanic individuals." Tesla says it fired three employees after the investigation.
"We believe this was the fair and just response to the facts that we learned," Tesla said, warning it'd fire anyone else who demonstrated such behavior.