Tesla countersues California company behind race discrimination lawsuit

Tesla final week countersued the California company that has accused the electrical carmaker of tolerating widespread race discrimination at its flagship meeting plant.

Tesla in a criticism filed in state court docket in Alameda County mentioned the California Civil Rights Division (CRD), which sued the corporate in February, adopted “underground rules” permitting it to file the lawsuit with out first notifying Tesla of the claims or giving the corporate an opportunity to settle.

Tesla’s counter-lawsuit alleges that the CRD violated state legislation by not in search of public remark earlier than adopting procedures for investigating and suing employers. And people procedures flout necessities that the CRD disclose particulars of its investigations to employers and make makes an attempt to settle claims outdoors of court docket earlier than suing, Tesla claims.

Tesla is in search of an order barring the CRD from following its allegedly illegal procedures within the investigation of any employer and requiring the company to undertake new rules via a proper rulemaking course of.

A spokesperson for the CRD didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

Tesla had made related claims in a bid to dismiss the California company’s lawsuit, which was denied by a state choose final month. However the criticism filed on Thursday could permit the corporate’s attorneys to uncover new particulars in regards to the CRD’s practices and its investigation of Tesla via the invention course of, which might bolster its efforts to have the case dismissed.

The CRD claims Tesla’s flagship Fremont, California, plant is a racially segregated office the place Black staff confronted racist slurs and graffiti and have been discriminated towards when it comes to job assignments, self-discipline and pay.

Tesla has denied wrongdoing and mentioned the lawsuit was politically motivated. The corporate in June had requested a separate California company, the Workplace of Administrative Regulation, to analyze the CRD’s alleged adoption of illegal insurance policies. The OAL final month declined to overview Tesla’s petition with out explaining its choice.

Austin, Texas-based Tesla can also be going through a sequence of race and intercourse discrimination circumstances by employees, most involving the Fremont plant.

A state choose in April lower a jury verdict for a Black employee who alleged racial harassment from $137 million to $15 million. The plaintiff rejected the lowered award and opted for a brand new trial, which is scheduled for March 2023.