Almost 6,000 Black workers from Tesla Inc.’s California factory can sue the car maker collectively over claims that it failed to protect them from racism under a tentative ruling by a California judge.
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Noël Wise said Wednesday the workers should be allowed to proceed with class-action status because Tesla’s alleged “pattern or practice” of failing to take reasonable steps to prevent discrimination was a common issue for all the Black workers at the Fremont plant.
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The judge gave Tesla until Thursday to contest her ruling and scheduled a hearing for Friday for the parties to argue their positions.
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The lawsuit was filed in 2017 by Tesla worker Marcus Vaughn, who claimed that the factory production floor was a “hotbed of racist behavior.” According to the complaint, co-workers and supervisors routinely used racial slurs, and employee complaints to human resources went largely unanswered.
Tesla initially responded to Vaughn’s suit with a blog post titled “Hotbed of Misinformation,” denying wrongdoing and saying the company had fired three people after probing alleged incidents.
Tesla representatives didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday’s ruling.
The case is Vaughn v. Tesla, Inc., RG17882082, California Superior Court, Alameda County.