The complainant said that, despite his complaints at the hierarchy, the company did nothing to put an end to the racism he suffered in 2015 and 2016 on a Californian industrial site.
Le Monde with AFP and AP
This is a judgment that could do date. A Californian jury sentenced, Monday, October 4, the Automobile Tesla to pay for an ex-black employee nearly $ 137 million (about 118 million euros) of damages, for closing his eyes on racism. that man suffered in a group plant.
Engaged via a recruitment agency, Owen Diaz worked as an operator of bonds between June 2015 and July 2016 in the Fremont factory in California of the electric vehicle manufacturer, where he suffered racist insults and an environment in hostile work, according to judicial documents.
During the trial, Mr. Diaz explained that the African Americans of the factory, where his son was also working, were regularly victims of racist nicknames and denigration. According to his testimony, the employees had drawn swasting crosses, as well as graffiti and racist drawings around the factory. Mr. Diaz said that, despite complaints at the hierarchy, Tesla did not react to end the usual racism.
“A façade”
“The progressive image of Tesla was a facade hiding the retrograde and devaluing treatment of its African-American employees”, according to the complaint.
The Jury of the Federal Court of San Francisco granted Mr. Diaz $ 6.9 million in damages for “emotional distress”, and $ 130 million as a punishment, “said his lawyer, Larry Organ , at the Washington Post . “They decided on an amount that could serve as alarm for American firms,” he said on Tuesday to the France-Presse agency (AFP). “Do not behave racist and do not let racism continue,” the lawyer added.
“I knew that Cowen said the truth, I just had to prove it to eight unknown people,” he said, with reference to the jury. “Normal people see clear through the bullshit that American boxes are displayed”.
On the Tesla side, the Human Resources Vice-Chairperson, Valerie Capers Workman, acknowledged part of the facts in a statement published in the wake of the verdict: “Even if we firmly believe that the facts do not justify this decision of the jury of San Francisco, we recognize that in 2015 and 2016 we were not perfect. “It mentions that at the Fremont plant, other employees testified to have” heard regularly racist insults “, including The word Nigger (“Negro”). According to her, these employees said that “most of the time, they thought that this language was used” friendly “and in general by African-American colleagues”. She said Tesla had reacted to the complaints of Owen Diaz by dismissing two contractuals.
“Now they invent excuses”
“Our attack line was that Tesla does not assume his responsibilities,” said Larry Organ. “They do the same thing now: they are inventing excuses,” he accused.
Valerie Capers Workman also pointed out that Tesla had made changes since the period where Owen Diaz worked in the factory, constituting a team of human resources that investigate employee complaints. “We are still not perfect. But we have traveled a lot of way in five years,” she added.
In May, after an arbitration, Tesla had been obliged to pay more than $ 1 million for similar allegations from another former Fremont plant worker. This employee had argued that his colleagues had made him undergo racist insults, and that his supervisors had ignored his complaints.