[1/2]A Tesla logo is seen outside a showroom of the automaker in Beijing, China, May 31, 2023. Portal/Thomas Peter/File Photo acquire license rights
Oct 4 (Portal) – A black former Tesla factory worker lost his bid for a third trial in his racial discrimination lawsuit against the electric car maker on Wednesday after a California federal judge rejected his claims that the company’s lawyers engaged in misconduct and wrongdoing his process.
U.S. District Judge William Orrick in San Francisco, in a written order, affirmed a $3.2 million verdict a jury awarded plaintiff Owen Diaz in April, denying his request for a new trial and simultaneously denying it Tesla’s offer to halve the price.
The decision averts another lengthy trial against the electric car maker but also draws new attention to the case, one of several alleging rampant racial harassment at Tesla’s flagship assembly plant in Fremont, California. The latest application was filed last week by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Orrick confirmed the ruling, saying it was justified “given the widespread racism at the Tesla factory and Tesla’s repeated failure to correct it.”
Diaz, a former elevator operator, claimed he was subjected to racial slurs and graffiti on a daily basis and that Tesla ignored his complaints.
His lawyers had argued that Tesla’s legal team asked inappropriate questions, baselessly accused a witness of lying and gave misleading statements to the jury during a five-day trial earlier this year.
Orrick said any misconduct by the company’s attorneys did not impact the entire trial to such an extent that it would have resulted in undue influence and prejudice to the jury.
Diaz was awarded $137 million by a different jury in 2021, but Orrick subsequently ruled that the verdict was excessive. The judge ordered the second hearing to determine damages after Diaz rejected a lower payout of $15 million.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
Lawrence Organ, an attorney for Diaz, said he is considering an appeal and expects Tesla to appeal to reduce the arbitration award.
Organ said that despite the loss in bidding for a new trial, the $3.2 million award for a racial discrimination case was high and showed the severity of the harassment alleged by Diaz.
“Courts typically do not favor large, multimillion-dollar damages awards in these cases. So from that perspective, this is clearly a victory for Diaz and for civil rights,” Organ said.
Orrick barred either side from presenting new evidence or testimony in the second trial, which took place in March.
Diaz alleged that Tesla’s lawyers violated that policy by questioning him and other witnesses about alleged altercations between Diaz and other workers that were not brought up in the first trial. Diaz denies that these incidents occurred.
Tesla has said it does not tolerate discrimination and takes worker complaints seriously.
The company has also denied wrongdoing in several other lawsuits, alleging that employees at the Fremont plant and other factories and service centers were subjected to racial or sexual harassment.
Those cases include a proposed class action lawsuit by black workers and a lawsuit by a California state agency alleging widespread racial discrimination at the Fremont plant, which Tesla says was politically motivated.
Last week, Tesla was sued by the EEOC, which alleges that black factory workers have been regularly subjected to racial slurs and graffiti since 2015 and have retaliated against them for complaining about the harassment.
The EEOC sued Tesla under the federal employment discrimination law, which limits damages to $300,000 per worker. The class action lawsuit and the state agency’s lawsuit allege violations of California law, which has no caps.
Diaz had sued Tesla under another federal law that prohibits racial discrimination in contracts, including employment contracts, and does not provide for limitation on damages.
Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York, editing by Lisa Shumaker, Alexia Garamfalvi, Diane Craft and David Gregorio
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