Tesla swerves on racism?
Tesla, Elon Musk's company, is (again) in the storm over allegations of racial discrimination and sexual harassment. Here's what happened
Grane for the billionaire Elon Musk. Fifteen former and current black Tesla employees filed a lawsuit against the company claiming they suffered racial abuse and harassment in its factories.
But it is not the first time.
THE COMPLAINT
Workers said they were regularly subjected to abusive and racist comments and behavior from colleagues, managers and human resources employees. This was reported by Reuters as reported in the lawsuit filed with a California state court.
THE FACTS
The harassment, the news agency said, occurred in particular at the Tesla plant in Fremont, California, and included the use of terms such as "black", "slavery", "plantation" but also sexual comments.
The lawsuit also states that the "standard operating procedures of the car manufacturer include blatant, open and non-extenuating racial discrimination."
Also according to the lawsuit, some of the plaintiffs were assigned to the most physically demanding positions at Tesla or were turned down for a promotion. One of the witnesses, for example, claims that he was immediately demoted upon his return after taking an authorized leave because it was positive for Covid.
NOT AN ISOLATED CASE
However, this isn't the first time Musk's company has faced asimilar situation . At least 10, writes Reuters , are the causes he is facing for racial discrimination and sexual harassment.
In June, a Tesla shareholder filed a lawsuit accusing Musk himself and the company's board of neglecting worker complaints and fostering a toxic workplace culture.
But already months ago, an article in the Guardian , reported the testimonies of other workers who denounced the presence of racist graffiti in the common areas of the factory, including swastikas, KKK for Ku-Klux Klan, the word "negro" and other than the company. hasn't removed for months.
“Tesla – reads the article – has continued to mislead and evade its responsibilities. While it claims it does not tolerate racial harassment or discrimination in its factories, Tesla's investigations into the complaints are not in accordance with the law ”.
For many employees, the Guardian reports, "the stress of severe and pervasive racial harassment, the risk of a physical altercation and escalation with harassers, blatant discrimination, disproportionately harsh discipline and the futility of complaints have made the working conditions so intolerable as to induce them to resign ".
THE TESLA VERSION
Previously, Tesla has denied having committed wrongdoing and claims to have adopted policies to prevent and address misconduct in the workplace.
But a report on inclusion and equality released by Tesla in December 2020 showed that employees who identify as black and African Americans represent 10% of its workforce in the United States, however, only 4% of these hold the position of director. .
Employees identified as Hispanic and Latino make up 22% of the total workforce but – again – they represent only 4% of employees in senior positions.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/tesla-sbanda-sul-razzismo/ on Fri, 01 Jul 2022 10:37:21 +0000.