Latest news with #RainaPierce
American Military News
26-04-2025
- Automotive
- American Military News
Tesla settles lawsuit by Black worker who alleged widespread racism at Fremont electric car factory
Tesla has settled a lawsuit by a worker in its Fremont electric car factory who claimed she was harassed and discriminated against because she is Black. Raina Pierce sued the automaker in 2022, alleging that her manager referred to the facility as 'the plantation' and the 'slave house,' and that her supervisor called her a racial slur that was pervasive in the factory. Pierce still worked at Tesla when she filed her lawsuit, but has since left the company, her lawyer said Monday. Tesla, led by CEO Elon Musk, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Pierce's case, first filed in Alameda County Superior Court and moved the next month to San Francisco U.S. District Court, is one of several claiming widespread, anti-Black racism at the Fremont plant. Two are scheduled to go to trail in September. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed in the court filing Friday about the agreement. Pierce's lawyer Hunter Pyle said the settlement was confidential. The deal followed court-ordered arbitration that started in March 2023, and mediation in October 2024 that concluded early this month in the agreement, according to an earlier court filing. Pierce had claimed that when a manager noticed she had been assigned to push two carts that were too heavy for one person, and notified her direct supervisors, one of them angrily claimed she got him in trouble, and later made a vulgar comment about not being able to tolerate Black people. Pierce's supervisors let non-Black workers swap work stations regularly, but denied her requests to switch stations, and also disciplined her more frequently and severely than non-Black colleagues, the lawsuit claimed. Pierce had reported alleged harassment and discrimination to Tesla's human resources department in May 2021, after she had begun, a month before, to feel a sharp pain in her left knee and lower leg that was made worse by standing for long periods, walking long distances or carrying heavy items, the lawsuit said. A few months later, suffering from the leg pain and an infection, she called out sick and was told she was being put on leave, the lawsuit claimed. Tesla, in addition to discriminating against her on the basis of race and gender, and failing to stop the alleged race-based harassment, retaliated against her by making her stay on leave for more than three months, the lawsuit alleged. She was seeking unspecified general, punitive and compensatory damages. The car maker continues fighting a number of legal actions claiming it failed to properly address anti-Black racism in its facilities. California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing — the state's civil rights regulator — filed suit against Tesla in 2022, alleging Black workers at the company's Fremont facility were paid less than White workers, denied advancements, and faced daily racist abuse, including a noose drawn in a bathroom next to a lynching reference and a racial slur. Tesla has called the lawsuit, in Alameda County Superior Court, 'misguided' and 'unfair.' The case is set to go before a jury Sept. 15. In the widest-ranging ongoing racism case against the pioneering EV company, hundreds of current and former Black workers for Tesla filed declarations supporting a 2017 class-action lawsuit by former Tesla contractor Marcus Vaughn, alleging that despite complaint after complaint, the company did not stop race-based abuse and discrimination, with Black workers segregated into the hardest, most dangerous, lowest-paid jobs and subjected to a barrage of racist treatment, language and images. Thousands of current and former Black workers at Tesla have signed on to the lawsuit. Tesla said in a 2022 blog post that it 'strongly opposes all forms of discrimination and harassment' and claimed it 'has always disciplined and terminated employees who engage in misconduct, including those who use racial slurs or harass others in different ways.' The judge in the case, Noël Wise, said last year that the experiences of workers who submitted declarations 'might reasonably be characterized as race harassment.' A jury trial in the Vaughn case is scheduled to start Sept. 8 in Alameda County Superior Court. In 2021, a San Francisco federal court jury awarded a Black former Tesla worker, Owen Diaz, almost $137 million after he sued the company over alleged 'daily racist epithets' in a workplace where colleagues drew swastikas and left racist graffiti and drawings around the facility. San Francisco U.S. District Judge William Orrick later cut the award to $15 million, saying 'disturbing' evidence supported the verdict against Tesla, but legal principles compelled him to slash the payment. Diaz rejected the award in favor of a new trial, where a jury found that Tesla should pay $3.2 million. After Diaz filed a court notice that he would appeal, he and Tesla reached a confidential final settlement in March 2024. In May, an arbitrator ordered Tesla to pay $1 million to Melvin Berry, a Black former Tesla factory worker called racial slurs by supervisors. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Tesla in 2023, accusing the company of 'tolerating widespread and ongoing racial harassment of its Black employees and … subjecting some of these workers to retaliation for opposing the harassment.' Tesla in a court filing claimed the lawsuit arose from 'run-amok competition' between the commission and the California civil rights regulator, and that it lacked 'any sound factual basis.' The next hearing in the case is scheduled for June. ___ © #YR@ MediaNews Group, Inc. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
San Francisco Chronicle
25-04-2025
- Automotive
- San Francisco Chronicle
Tesla settles lawsuit over ‘welcome to the plantation' remark made to Black employee
Tesla has settled a racial discrimination lawsuit filed by a Black female employee who accused the company of racist remarks and unfair treatment at its Fremont manufacturing facility, court records reveal. The plaintiff, Raina Pierce, worked on the production line, installing latches on car doors. In her lawsuit, she claimed a manager frequently greeted workers with phrases like, 'Welcome to the plantation' or 'Welcome to the slave house.' The settlement, reached through mediation, was disclosed in a filing on Thursday in San Francisco federal court. The terms of the agreement were not made public, and lawyers for both parties have declined to comment. Pierce's lawsuit alleges pervasive racial and gender-based harassment throughout her employment at Tesla – racial slurs were reportedly scrawled in various parts of the plant, including restrooms. She also claimed to have been called a gender-based insult and disciplined for behavior that white coworkers were allowed to engage in without consequence. One Tesla employee reportedly advised Pierce to take the issue to human resources, saying, 'Ma'am, you need to go to HR because these leads are saying things about you that are not right.' The case adds to a growing list of discrimination and harassment claims Tesla has faced, particularly at its Fremont plant. In 2024, the company settled a high-profile case with Owen Diaz, a Black former elevator operator, who had initially won a $137 million jury award for racist abuse before accepting a reduced $3.2 million settlement after a retrial. A class action lawsuit representing thousands of current and former Black employees at Tesla is also pending, as well as a civil rights case filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing. Tesla has denied wrongdoing in these ongoing cases but has not commented on the Pierce settlement.
Miami Herald
21-04-2025
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
Tesla settles lawsuit by Black worker who alleged widespread racism at Fremont electric car factory
Tesla has settled a lawsuit by a worker in its Fremont electric car factory who claimed she was harassed and discriminated against because she is Black. Raina Pierce sued the automaker in 2022, alleging that her manager referred to the facility as "the plantation" and the "slave house," and that her supervisor called her a racial slur that was pervasive in the factory. Pierce still worked at Tesla when she filed her lawsuit, but has since left the company, her lawyer said Monday. Tesla, led by CEO Elon Musk, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Pierce's case, first filed in Alameda County Superior Court and moved the next month to San Francisco U.S. District Court, is one of several claiming widespread, anti-Black racism at the Fremont plant. Two are scheduled to go to trail in September. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed in the court filing Friday about the agreement. Pierce's lawyer Hunter Pyle said the settlement was confidential. The deal followed court-ordered arbitration that started in March 2023, and mediation in October 2024 that concluded early this month in the agreement, according to an earlier court filing. Pierce had claimed that when a manager noticed she had been assigned to push two carts that were too heavy for one person, and notified her direct supervisors, one of them angrily claimed she got him in trouble, and later made a vulgar comment about not being able to tolerate Black people. Pierce's supervisors let non-Black workers swap work stations regularly, but denied her requests to switch stations, and also disciplined her more frequently and severely than non-Black colleagues, the lawsuit claimed. Pierce had reported alleged harassment and discrimination to Tesla's human resources department in May 2021, after she had begun, a month before, to feel a sharp pain in her left knee and lower leg that was made worse by standing for long periods, walking long distances or carrying heavy items, the lawsuit said. A few months later, suffering from the leg pain and an infection, she called out sick and was told she was being put on leave, the lawsuit claimed. Tesla, in addition to discriminating against her on the basis of race and gender, and failing to stop the alleged race-based harassment, retaliated against her by making her stay on leave for more than three months, the lawsuit alleged. She was seeking unspecified general, punitive and compensatory damages. The car maker continues fighting a number of legal actions claiming it failed to properly address anti-Black racism in its facilities. California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing - the state's civil rights regulator - filed suit against Tesla in 2022, alleging Black workers at the company's Fremont facility were paid less than White workers, denied advancements, and faced daily racist abuse, including a noose drawn in a bathroom next to a lynching reference and a racial slur. Tesla has called the lawsuit, in Alameda County Superior Court, "misguided" and "unfair." The case is set to go before a jury Sept. 15. In the widest-ranging ongoing racism case against the pioneering EV company, hundreds of current and former Black workers for Tesla filed declarations supporting a 2017 class-action lawsuit by former Tesla contractor Marcus Vaughn, alleging that despite complaint after complaint, the company did not stop race-based abuse and discrimination, with Black workers segregated into the hardest, most dangerous, lowest-paid jobs and subjected to a barrage of racist treatment, language and images. Thousands of current and former Black workers at Tesla have signed on to the lawsuit. Tesla said in a 2022 blog post that it "strongly opposes all forms of discrimination and harassment" and claimed it "has always disciplined and terminated employees who engage in misconduct, including those who use racial slurs or harass others in different ways." The judge in the case, Noël Wise, said last year that the experiences of workers who submitted declarations "might reasonably be characterized as race harassment." A jury trial in the Vaughn case is scheduled to start Sept. 8 in Alameda County Superior Court. In 2021, a San Francisco federal court jury awarded a Black former Tesla worker, Owen Diaz, almost $137 million after he sued the company over alleged "daily racist epithets" in a workplace where colleagues drew swastikas and left racist graffiti and drawings around the facility. San Francisco U.S. District Judge William Orrick later cut the award to $15 million, saying "disturbing" evidence supported the verdict against Tesla, but legal principles compelled him to slash the payment. Diaz rejected the award in favor of a new trial, where a jury found that Tesla should pay $3.2 million. After Diaz filed a court notice that he would appeal, he and Tesla reached a confidential final settlement in March 2024. In May, an arbitrator ordered Tesla to pay $1 million to Melvin Berry, a Black former Tesla factory worker called racial slurs by supervisors. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Tesla in 2023, accusing the company of "tolerating widespread and ongoing racial harassment of its Black employees and … subjecting some of these workers to retaliation for opposing the harassment." Tesla in a court filing claimed the lawsuit arose from "run-amok competition" between the commission and the California civil rights regulator, and that it lacked "any sound factual basis." The next hearing in the case is scheduled for June. Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
CNN
18-04-2025
- Automotive
- CNN
Tesla settles Black worker's lawsuit alleging pervasive harassment
Tesla has settled a racial discrimination lawsuit by a Black female employee who claimed a manager at its Fremont, California, plant sometimes greeted workers by saying 'welcome to the plantation' or 'welcome to the slave house.' Raina Pierce, who installed latches on car doors, and the automaker led by billionaire Elon Musk agreed to a settlement proposed by a mediator, according to a joint filing Thursday in San Francisco federal court. Terms were not disclosed, and both sides are finalizing a settlement agreement, the filing said. Lawyers for Pierce and Tesla (TSLA) did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Musk is not a defendant. Pierce said she was subjected to pervasive harassment, including a common racial slur she said was scrawled throughout the plant including in bathrooms, and a gender-based insult. She also said she was yelled at or disciplined for conduct for which non-Black workers were excused. Pierce's complaint quotes a Tesla employee who temporarily joined her production line and said, 'Ma'am, you need to go to HR because these leads are saying things about you that are not right.' Tesla has faced other accusations of racial discrimination and harassment at the Fremont plant. One plaintiff, elevator operator Owen Diaz, settled in March 2024 for undisclosed terms after a $3.2 million jury verdict. Another jury had awarded Diaz $137 million in 2021, but the case was retried after he rejected a lower sum the judge proposed. See Full Web Article
CNN
18-04-2025
- Automotive
- CNN
‘Welcome to the slave house.' Tesla settles Black worker's lawsuit alleging pervasive harassment
Tesla has settled a racial discrimination lawsuit by a Black female employee who claimed a manager at its Fremont, California, plant sometimes greeted workers by saying 'welcome to the plantation' or 'welcome to the slave house.' Raina Pierce, who installed latches on car doors, and the automaker led by billionaire Elon Musk agreed to a settlement proposed by a mediator, according to a joint filing Thursday in San Francisco federal court. Terms were not disclosed, and both sides are finalizing a settlement agreement, the filing said. Lawyers for Pierce and Tesla (TSLA) did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Musk is not a defendant. Pierce said she was subjected to pervasive harassment, including a common racial slur she said was scrawled throughout the plant including in bathrooms, and a gender-based insult. She also said she was yelled at or disciplined for conduct for which non-Black workers were excused. Pierce's complaint quotes a Tesla employee who temporarily joined her production line and said, 'Ma'am, you need to go to HR because these leads are saying things about you that are not right.' Tesla has faced other accusations of racial discrimination and harassment at the Fremont plant. One plaintiff, elevator operator Owen Diaz, settled in March 2024 for undisclosed terms after a $3.2 million jury verdict. Another jury had awarded Diaz $137 million in 2021, but the case was retried after he rejected a lower sum the judge proposed.
