Tesla to pay $137 million to former Staff for ignoring Racial Abuse

A former Tesla staff, Owen Diaz working at the Fremont Factory has won a lawsuit that mandates Tesla to pay him the collective sum of $137 million for ignoring racial abuse from other staff members.

Owen disclosed that the racial slurs asking him to ‘return to Africa’ and graffiti on the bathroom doors sometimes left him crying on the stairs when he was alone. He also reported sleepless nights and weight loss due to the constant jabs from colleagues at Tesla.

The San Francisco Federal court awarded him the sum of $130 million in punitive damages and $6.9 million for emotional distress against Tesla. The case has been described as the largest verdict ever reached in a race discrimination case against an individual in the workplace.

In response, Tesla’s Vice President of People, Valerie Capers Workman claimed the facts did not justify the compensation in Owen’s case. She also attested that Tesla didn’t do much in the past to fight racial profiling but more work is currently being done to stem it.

Diaz, who is of African Descent, is not the first former employee to file against the company and has said he would use the proceeds from the lawsuit to start a business and hire former prisoners and homeless people.