Elon Musk’s Car Company Tesla Faces Allegations Of Racist Discrimination Against Black Employees
Summary
TLDRThe video script discusses a lawsuit filed against Tesla on behalf of its black employees, who have been subjected to racial slurs and a hostile work environment. It highlights previous settlements, including a $1 million payout to Melvin Berry and a $137 million award to Owen Diaz, both for racial discrimination. The script also criticizes Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk, for not addressing the issue and suggests that the company's culture tolerates such behavior. The discussion includes Larry Organ, a lawyer involved in the cases, who emphasizes the lack of action by Tesla to prevent racism and retaliation, and Jason Johnson, who comments on the broader implications of tech culture and potential state-level anti-racism legislation.
Takeaways
- 📜 A 39-page complaint has been filed on behalf of Tesla's black employees, detailing shocking instances of racial discrimination and use of the n-word at the workplace.
- 🚫 Tesla has faced similar accusations before, having paid out $1 million to a former employee in August after an arbitrator found the company ignored frequent use of racial slurs.
- 🏭 The environment at Tesla's factory has been described as toxic, with racist graffiti and supervisors using the n-word directed at employees on multiple occasions.
- 📢 Despite complaints, Tesla's response was deemed insufficient, with no full investigations conducted and a lack of action to address the hostile work environment.
- 🗣️ Elon Musk's statement about needing a 'thick skin' has been criticized, as it suggests a dismissive attitude towards the serious issue of racism within the company.
- 💼 There is an implied 'tech bro' culture within Tesla that may contribute to the normalization of such behavior and a lack of accountability.
- 🚫 Tesla has refused to attend mediation and has been accused of retaliating against employees who complained about the racist environment.
- 💰 A federal jury awarded $137 million to a black elevator operator after finding his claims of being repeatedly called the n-word credible.
- 📚 A class action lawsuit was filed in 2017 on behalf of 1,000 black workers due to the ongoing toxic environment at Tesla.
- 🏁 Elon Musk's move to Texas shortly after a large verdict against Tesla has been perceived by some as an attempt to escape accountability.
- 🛑 Tesla's response to the class action lawsuit was to fight it rather than address the systemic issues, suggesting a resistance to change and a lack of willingness to engage in meaningful resolution.
Q & A
What is the main issue raised in the complaint filed on behalf of Tesla's black employees?
-The complaint alleges that Tesla's production associates and supervisors regularly use the n-word against employees and that some supervisors have retaliated against complaints of racism with their own racist language and tactics.
What previous incidents have occurred involving Tesla and claims of racism and discrimination?
-In August, Tesla paid a former employee, Melvin Berry, $1 million after an arbitrator found the company ignored the use of racist slurs. In October, a federal jury awarded Owen Diaz, a black elevator operator, $137 million after finding his claims of being called the n-word credible.
What was the outcome of the class action lawsuit filed in 2017 on behalf of 1,000 black workers against Tesla?
-The outcome is not detailed in the transcript, but it indicates that the environment at Tesla was considered toxic for a long time, leading to the lawsuit.
What specific experiences did Larry Organ describe regarding his clients Owen Diaz and Melvin Berry?
-Larry Organ described that both clients heard the n-word frequently at the factory, with Diaz being called the n-word over 60 times by two supervisors. There was also racist graffiti in the bathrooms, and despite numerous complaints, Tesla did not conduct full investigations or take appropriate action.
What was Elon Musk's response to the allegations of a hostile work environment at Tesla?
-Elon Musk made a statement about having a 'thick skin,' implying that the complaints were not taken seriously, and there was a lack of action to address the issues.
How does the 'tech bro culture' mentioned in the transcript relate to the situation at Tesla?
-The 'tech bro culture' refers to an environment where certain behaviors, such as racism and retaliation, are tolerated or even encouraged, with a dismissive attitude towards complaints and a lack of accountability.
What was Tesla's response to the class action lawsuit in 2017?
-Tesla stated that they would rather pay 10 times the settlement demand in legal fees and fight to the ends of the earth than give in to extortion and allow the abuse of the legal system.
What is Larry Organ's response to being called an 'extortionist' by Elon Musk?
-Larry Organ stated that he would rather be called an extortionist for standing up for African-American workers than anything else, and he is not scared of Elon Musk or the legal fight.
What is the significance of the mention of Elon Musk moving to Texas?
-The move to Texas by Elon Musk is seen as potentially an attempt to escape accountability for the lawsuits and allegations of racism and discrimination, possibly seeking a more permissive environment.
How does the discussion of the 'anti-woke' acts in states like Florida relate to the Tesla situation?
-The 'anti-woke' acts could potentially prohibit companies like Tesla from addressing racism and discrimination, as they suggest that the problem is with people complaining about racism rather than the racism itself.
What other issues at Tesla are mentioned in the transcript that should be a concern?
-In addition to racism, the transcript also mentions sexism issues at Tesla, indicating that there are multiple areas of concern regarding the company's workplace culture.
Outlines
🚨 Allegations of Racism and Retaliation at Tesla 🚨
The first paragraph discusses a 39-page complaint filed on behalf of Tesla's black employees, detailing allegations of regular racial slurs and a toxic work environment. It mentions previous settlements and legal actions, including a $1 million payout to Melvin Berry for racial abuse and a $137 million award to Owen Diaz, a black elevator operator. The paragraph highlights the lack of action by Tesla despite numerous complaints and the company's refusal to attend mediation. It also criticizes Elon Musk's response to the situation, suggesting that his attitude perpetuates a hostile work environment.
📘 Legal and Cultural Implications of Tesla's Racism Claims 📘
The second paragraph delves into the legal aspects and cultural implications of the racism claims against Tesla. It discusses the potential impact of Elon Musk's move to Texas in light of the ongoing lawsuit and the irony of the timing. The speaker, Larry Organ, expresses his readiness to continue the fight for African-American workers and criticizes Tesla's response to the class action lawsuit, which accused the company of preferring to spend more on legal fees than settling. The paragraph also touches on the broader issue of states like Florida attempting to pass laws that could inhibit companies from addressing racism, and the need for the jury system as a check on power.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Racism
💡Discrimination
💡Class Action Lawsuit
💡Retaliation
💡Tesla
💡Elon Musk
💡Arbitration
💡Hostile Work Environment
💡Civil Rights Act of 1866
💡Jury System
Highlights
Tesla's black employees face regular use of the n-word by production associates and supervisors.
Supervisors allegedly retaliated with racist language when confronted with complaints about racism.
Tesla previously paid a former employee $1 million after an arbitrator found the company ignored racist slurs.
A federal jury awarded a black elevator operator $137 million for credible claims of being repeatedly called the n-word.
A class action lawsuit was filed in 2017 on behalf of 1,000 black workers due to a toxic environment.
Lawyer Larry Organ represents clients in all three mentioned cases against Tesla.
Tesla allegedly took no substantial action to investigate or stop the use of the n-word and racist graffiti.
Elon Musk's statement about having a 'thick skin' is criticized as dismissive of the serious issues.
Tesla's culture is described as one of ignoring complaints and retaliating against those who speak up.
Elon Musk is likened to Doctor Doom for his apparent comfort with a hostile work environment.
Tesla's refusal to attend mediation and accusations of taunting and retaliation against black workers.
The move of Tesla to Texas is viewed with skepticism, possibly as an attempt to escape accountability.
Tesla's response to the class action lawsuit was to fight rather than settle, calling it extortion.
Larry Organ embraces being called an extortionist for standing up for African-American workers.
The jury system is highlighted as a check on power and potentially against Elon Musk and Tesla.
Concerns raised about states like Florida trying to become safe havens for racism.
The discussion also touches on sexism issues at Tesla that have not been fully addressed.
Transcripts
if you take the time to read the 39-page
complaint filed on behalf of tesla's
black employees
you would be horrified
tesla production associates and
supervisors are accused of regularly
calling employees to n-word and when
faced with complaints about the racist
environment some supervisors allegedly
used their own racist language and
retaliatory tactics now mind you this is
not the first time elon musk and his
company have had to address these claims
of rampant racism and discrimination in
the workplace last august the company
paid a former employee melvin berry one
million dollars after an arbitrator
found that tesla turned a blind eye to
the commonplace use of racist slurs and
failed to stop the employees supervisors
from calling him the n-word the
arbitrator found barry's allegations
more credible than tesla's denials
arbitration is what companies like to
use to keep things hostage on friendlier
terms and then in october a federal jury
in san francisco awarded owen d as a
black elevator operator
137 million dollars after they found his
claims that a colleague repeatedly
called him the n word to be credible
the environment has reportedly been so
toxic for so long that a class action
lawsuit was filed back in 2017 against
the company on behalf of 1 000 black
workers and joining me now is larry
organ founder of the california civil
rights law group he's a lawyer in all
three cases that i just mentioned and
jason johnson is back with us um i think
for a lot of people um and thank you so
much for being here mr organ it's
shocking to
hear that this seems to be an extremely
open environment of both racism and
retaliation
walk us through what your clients were
going through and tell us what the
specifics of the retaliation looked like
sure so in terms of owen diaz um and
melvin berry they they heard the n-word
from uh the get-go whenever they were
walking around the factory
um but owen had it directed at him over
60 times by two of his supervisors there
was racist graffiti including the n-word
swastikas and other things in the
bathrooms
that that he saw as of the second day of
his employment there he complained
numerous times
verbally and in writing and
tesla
took some perfunctory
analysis but
they didn't do full investigations they
just didn't do the things that employers
are supposed to do if you want to stop
this and most importantly what really
makes me mad is this statement about the
thick skin by elon musk if he had gone
into that factory you know this is a guy
who said oh i sleep on the factory floor
if he had gone in from day one and said
you know i heard there's the n word here
if you say the n word we're gonna fire
you and then tesla follows up and fires
them
it stops there but that hasn't happened
and that's what's so infuriating is that
thousands of black workers have been
called the n-word subjected to all kinds
of racist taunts um and uh retaliation
as you pointed out in the dfeh complaint
um and and nothing is done to stop it so
uh very very disappointing
and you know jason there's like there's
a bit of this sort of tech bro culture
thing that i think is happening here too
so just some of it to go very quickly um
tesla refused to attend mediation at one
point when dfeh wanted them to attend um
they were like no we're not gonna do it
um the the the same department found
that black workers were being taunted as
we just heard um and then when they
complained they were said well they're
aggressive they're threatening they
would get in trouble they would be
accused of coming in late and saying oh
we're gonna you know use that to sort of
deny you opportunity i mean literally it
seems that
the culture inside of tesla was suck it
up and if you say anything we're gonna
retaliate against you and here's the
other thing joy it's like tesla elon
musk has this image of himself he's like
i'm the real tony stark no he's more
he's more doctor doom right he's he's
more vicious and mean and bullying
because here's the thing you hear about
this with tesla do you think somebody
could get away with this at ford do you
think somebody could get away with it to
honda no the people who are there know i
can act the fool in this particular
environment and when it goes up the
ladder nothing is going to happen to me
some of these complaints are ridiculous
i mean for someone to have swastikas and
kkk in a break room and it takes months
for it to be scrubbed down allegedly for
someone to be called the n word multiple
times so much that they can count you
don't say i got called the n word 60
times if you are counting past 23 or 24
so all of this really falls into his lap
and he has made it clear that as much as
he wants to present himself as this cool
guy he is perfectly comfortable with the
hostile work environment you know and
then now they're moving to texas uh mr
oregon so talk about that because you
know i guess it could be seen by some as
an attempt to escape accountability by
getting out of the state of california
where he is facing this pretty
aggressive lawsuit to what he might
believes is a more permissive
environment what are your thoughts on
that
well you know owen's case uh
was brought under
the civil rights act of 1866 so
he may run to texas but he can't hide
from the federal statute that found him
guilty here so
i think that jurors in texas are not
going to be sympathetic to
musk's bs and hopefully they will stand
up to any kind of racism there but i do
think that the timing is uh sort of
ironic three days after mr diaz got his
137 million dollar verdict he moves away
to texas
uh yeah kind of chicken if you ask me
it could be a tesla's response by the
way to the class action lawsuit back in
2017 attacking you it said at tesla we
would rather pay 10 times the settlement
demand in legal fees and fight to the
ends of the earth than give in to
extortion and allow this abuse of the
legal system that was their response to
you mr oregon your thoughts
well uh i'd rather be called an
extortionist by elon musk for standing
up for african-american workers uh then
maybe anything else i wear that as a
badge of honor so uh bring it on elon no
one here is scared of you
you know me and my co-counsel brian
schwartz we're all we're fighting you in
that class action
um and uh you know uh my other uh my
co-counsel in the diaz trial he filed
another case against uh elon
um so bernard alexander is his name so
you know
yeah we're not scared and
it's kind of it's yeah i know it's it's
uh it's a sad thing
but yeah i think because he has so much
money and because tesla is such a
wealthy company they think they they're
above the law
and uh the one great thing about america
is the jury system
uh as our founders um uh decided is a
check on power and this is a check on uh
elon musk
and and quickly jason because we are in
this culture where
states like florida are trying to do
these anti-woke act things which would
literally prohibit a company like tesla
from even trying to fix it because this
idea is that the problem is people
complaining about racism not racism
right exactly that you know i i'm struck
joy honestly by like do you know how
much the abuse has to be for a door
person get 137 million dollars like 137
people like what is this is this calvin
candiolytic forcing black people to
fight like how gross environment this is
but it is something to be concerned
about when you have these states that
basically want to become safe havens for
racism right right they're going to say
oh we're attractive not just a business
because of low taxes but also we won't
tax you for bigotry we won't talk to you
we haven't even talked about the sexism
issues that they've also had at tesla so
that is something that should be a
concern he should not be able to
basically state hop in order to engage
in a kind of abuse alleged abuse that
this company's been engaging yeah and
unfortunately as you said there are
states that are trying to set themselves
up
aka free state of florida and saying
bring that here we okay with that here
and that is sad because there are people
there who deserve to be treated better
as well larry organ jason johnson thank
you both very much
[Music]
you
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