(Reuters) – A California state agency on Wednesday filed a lawsuit accusing Tesla Inc of tolerating discrimination against Black workers at an assembly plant, mirroring claims in several other pending cases against the electric-car maker, the Wall Street Journal reported.
California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) filed a lawsuit in state court which targets alleged workplace issues at Tesla’s Fremont factory, according to the report.
The agency found evidence that the factory is a “racially segregated workplace” where Black workers are subjected to racial slurs and discriminated against in job assignments, discipline, pay, creating a hostile work environment, the report said, citing a statement by DFEH director Kevin Kish.
Tesla had on Wednesday said the DFEH was planning to file a lawsuit against the company alleging systematic racial discrimination and harassment.
The company had said it would ask the court to pause the case once the state’s civil rights regulator filed its lawsuit.
Despite several requests, Tesla said, the regulator declined to provide the company with the specific allegations or the factual bases for its lawsuit.
Tesla and the DFEH did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for a comment.
(Reporting by Sabahatjahan Contractor in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
