Published By: The Grio
Tesla is on the line for $3 million to a Black former contractor in a race-related work case that has been ongoing for years.
According to NBC News, a San Francisco federal jury ordered the automaker to pay $3 million in punitive damages and $175,000 in economic damages to Owen Diaz, an elevator operator at its Fremont, California, location in 2015 and 2016.
In 2021, Diaz was awarded $137 million, an amount that included punitive damages, after a jury found that Tesla violated his civil rights and did not take all necessary measures to stop and prevent racist harassment directed at him.
Judge William H. Orrick reduced the sum to $15 million, prompting Diaz and Tesla to request a new trial to determine damages.
Last week, the former contractor testified in court again about how his coworkers at Tesla used racist slurs to disparage him and other Black employees, made him feel physically unsafe, urged him to “go back to Africa” and left racist graffiti and a racist drawing around. Read more
