Three former Tesla employees charge in a new lawsuit they were harassed and subjected to racist epithets and graffiti at the factory. The men, who are African American, say supervisors dismissed th…
FREMONT — Three former Tesla factory employees charge in a new suit the company’s factory is a hostile environment for black workers, adding to earlier accusations of racial harassment.
The men, who are African-American, claim in a new complaint filed Monday in state court that Tesla supervisors and workers used racial epithets and drew racist graffiti on cardboard boxes.
Tesla has faced ongoing labor disputes and disruption this year. The company fired hundreds of workers this month after company-wide performance reviews.
The new suit is the second by black employees charging Tesla failed to address racial antagonism at its factory. The electric vehicle maker also has a hearing before the National Labor Relations Board over claims it illegally tried to silence workers promoting a union. The complaints come as the Tesla heads into a crucial ramp-up of Model 3 production, its lower-cost electric vehicle.
A Tesla spokesman denied the suit’s allegations and said the men never raised the complaints to the company during their brief time at the plant.
“Given our size, we recognize that unfortunately at times there will be cases of harassment or discrimination in corners of the company,” the spokesman said. “From what we know so far, this does not seem to be such a case.”
The suit, filed in Alameda County Superior Court, claims Owen Diaz and his son, Demetric, were called the N-word while they worked at the Fremont factory, and supervisors did little to stop it. A third man, Lamar Patterson, also claims he was subjected to insensitive racist remarks.
Owen Diaz, 49, started as an elevator operator at Tesla in the summer of 2015, according to the suit. In an interview, Diaz said he was happy to be part of a growing company making cutting-edge electric vehicles. He liked the company mission and the $18 an hour wage so much he encouraged his son to apply.
“It would be a great opportunity,” he said. Demetric Diaz, 22, started as a production technician in August 2015.
One afternoon, Owen brought lunch to his son’s work station and interrupted a dispute between Demetric Diaz and his son’s supervisor, according to the suit. The supervisor cursed and used a racial slur.
“This is supposed to be a professional work environment,” Owen Diaz said in an interview. He felt crushed. “There was nothing I could do.”
Demetric Diaz complained about the regular use of epithets to the staffing agency and another supervisor, the suit said. The supervisor told him he was just a replaceable temporary worker. Diaz was dismissed less than a week later in October 2015.
Owen Diaz continued to work as an elevator operator. But over time, the suit claimed, the harassment grew worse. A co-worker regularly used the N-word. Diaz found an offensive “pickaninny” cartoon with the caption “Boo!” drawn on a bale of cardboard.
Owen Diaz also got into a heated argument with the supervisor who drew the cartoon, the suit said. He complained about the incident, and started to receive poor work evaluations. Diaz left Tesla around May 2016.
Patterson worked as an elevator operator between January and August 2016, and also claims in the suit to have been the exposed to epithets and hostility.
Tesla employs 33,000 workers, including about 10,000 at the Fremont factory. The men were hired by different employment agencies — Citistaff Solutions, West Valley Staffing Group and Chartwell Staffing Services — which were also named in the suit. Representatives from the staffing agencies did not return requests for comment.
The Tesla factory workforce has a mix of full-time and temporary workers, although Tesla is seeking to increase the percentage of full-time workers.
The Tesla spokesman said discrimination complaints typically first are filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the Department of Fair Employment and Housing. None of the former employees filed a claim with these agencies during their time at the plant.
The company received a complaint from Owen Diaz in October 2015 about a belligerent co-worker. But, the company said, “that email made no mention of the use of any racist language or epithets.”
Tesla requires all employees to undergo anti-discrimination and harassment training, the spokesman said.
Lawrence Organ, attorney for the men, said the incidents seem to show a pattern of insensitive behavior by Tesla supervisors and coworkers. “That’s a problem,” he said.
Organ also represents DeWitt Lambert, another former production worker. Lambert claimed in a suit against Tesla that co-workers regularly addressed him by a racial slur and made a racist and vulgar video with his stolen phone.
Owen Diaz said he came forward after hearing about Lambert’s suit. The suit seeks unspecified damages.
