Tesla to urge dismissal of California agency's race bias lawsuit
Send a link to a friend
[August 24, 2022]
By Daniel Wiessner
(Reuters) - Tesla Inc's lawyers on
Wednesday will urge a California judge to throw out a lawsuit by the
state's civil rights agency accusing the electric car maker of
widespread race discrimination at an assembly plant.
California Superior Court Judge Evelio Grillo in Oakland will hold a
hearing on Tesla's bid to dismiss the lawsuit by the state Department of
Civil Rights (DCR). Tesla, which is facing a series of other
discrimination lawsuits brought by employees, says the case is
politically motivated.
In a complaint filed in February, the DCR said Tesla's flagship Fremont,
California, plant was a racially segregated workplace where Black
employees were harassed and discriminated against in terms of job
assignments, discipline and pay.
Tesla, which has denied wrongdoing, and its lawyers did not respond to a
request for comment on Tuesday. Neither did the DCR, which until last
month was called the Department of Fair Employment and Housing.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Aug/24/images/ads/current/kleinschimney_lda_FAIR_2022.png)
Austin, Texas-based Tesla is facing a series of race and sex
discrimination cases, most involving the Fremont plant.
A state judge in April cut a jury verdict for a Black worker who alleged
racial harassment from $137 million to $15 million. The plaintiff
rejected the reduced award and opted for a new trial, which is scheduled
for March 2023.
In its motion to dismiss the DCR's case, Tesla says the agency flouted
its obligations under state law by filing the lawsuit without first
notifying the company of all of the claims or giving it a chance to
settle.
[to top of second column] |
![](../images/082422PIX/busine33.jpg)
The logo of car manufacturer Tesla is
seen at a branch office in Bern, Switzerland October 28, 2020.
REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Aug/24/images/ads/current/elkhart_grain_sda_FAIR_2022.png)
The agency has responded that before suing, it followed all of its internal
procedures including giving Tesla an opportunity to enter mediation.
Tesla in June filed a complaint with a different state agency, the California
Office of Administrative Law, claiming the DCR's alleged lapses are widespread
and the procedures adopted by the agency are unlawful. The OAL earlier this
month declined to review Tesla's petition without giving a reason for doing so.
There is little precedent for challenging the powers of anti-discrimination
agencies that are granted broad authority to sue employers.
In the 2015 case Mach Mining v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission,
involving the agency that enforces federal anti-bias laws, the U.S. Supreme
Court said courts cannot delve into the details of how the agency conducts
itself before suing.
California law, which is similar to the federal law enforced by the EEOC, says
the DCR "shall endeavor" to settle bias claims through "conference,
conciliation, and persuasion" before suing, but does not establish strict
requirements for the agency to follow.
(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi
and Nick Zieminski)
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Aug/24/images/ads/current/fcs_funeral_lda_border_04029022.png) |