Tesla management failed to act when Black employees complained about racist language and actions at its California assembly plant, state regulators claim in a new lawsuit against the electric car company, the Associated Press reports.
Besides the n-word being used on the assembly line floor, Black employees at the Fremont plant were called “porch monkeys” and “hood rats.” Other employees told them to “go back to Africa.” Employees also complained that the company failed to promptly remove racist graffiti found around the factory.
In court documents, lawyers for the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing asserted that Elon Musk’s decision to move the company’s headquarters from Palo Alto to Austin, Texas was influenced by his desire to avoid state inquiries into multiple complaints about discrimination at his companies. State investigators spent nearly three years looking into claims of racial discrimination.