Tesla has asked a California judge to stay a lawsuit against the company over widespread racial discrimination at its flagship assembly plant.
In a court filing Monday, Tesla said the state should continue to investigate allegations made against Tesla by the state’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) and give it a chance to settle the lawsuit.
The lawsuit filed by DFEH alleges that black workers at the company’s Fremont factory experienced “rampant racism” that the company has left “uncontrolled for years.” But Tesla’s attorneys said in the filing filed Monday that the DFEH conducted a “fundamental investigation” before the lawsuit and shared many grievances from workers with the company only after the lawsuit was filed.
The company added that DFEH violated a state law that requires the agency to take several steps before suing an employer. Tesla is attempting to pause the lawsuit for 120 days and force DFEH to arbitrate to settle the claims out of court with the company.
Tesla is also facing a separate lawsuit from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), alleging in its filing that the DFEH may have rushed its lawsuit in February in a “turf war” with the federal agency.
DFEH lost an attempt to block an $18 million agreement between EEOC and Activision Blizzard in a gender discrimination case last month. The agency had said the settlement could affect its own sexual prejudice lawsuit against Activision.
DFEH did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An EEOC spokesman said the agency had not commented on pending investigations.
The lawsuits against Tesla are two of many facing the company and its CEO Elon Musk. Investors on Twitter last week announced a lawsuit against Musk over his recent investments in the company. The US Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Musk and his brother for insider trading. On Friday, a judge settled another lawsuit against Musk, ruling that he falsely claimed he had funds to take the company private in 2018.
Nor is it the first time Tesla has been accused of condoning outrageous discrimination at the Fremont plant. In 2017 it faced a class action lawsuit alleging widespread racism at the factory, and in 2021 a jury ruled in favor of a former employee who alleged discrimination and was awarded $130 million in damages.
A federal judge in California last week awarded a former Tesla elevator operator $15 million in a racial prejudice case. The judge reduced a $137 million jury verdict but said the plaintiff presented ample evidence of racial abuse and Tesla’s failure to address it.
Reuters contributed to this report