Judge affirms jury’s verdict in Tesla racism lawsuit however reduces $137 million payout | Engadget

US District Judge William Orrick has rejected Tesla’s argument that it is not liable to Owen Diaz, in line with The Wall Street Journal and Reuters. Diaz is a former Black Tesla employee who accused the corporate of turning a blind eye to the racial abuse he suffered whereas working at its Fremont, California manufacturing unit from 2015 to 2016. Last yr, a jury dominated in favor of Diaz and awarded him $6.9 million in compensatory damages, in addition to $130 million in punitive damages. Orrick has affirmed the jury’s verdict however lowered the award to $15 million.

To be precise, he lowered the compensatory damages awarded to Diaz to $1.5 million from $6.9 million, which he known as “excessive.” He additionally slashed the “unconstitutionally large” punitive damages award from $130 million to $13.5 million. Punitive damages awarded by courts are supposed to punish a defendant and deter them from repeating their actions — or, in Tesla’s case, from allegedly ignoring the racial abuse of a Black employee. Tesla has a market worth exceeding $1 trillion, nevertheless, and $13.5 million is a drop within the bucket for the automaker. Diaz’s lawyer stated they plan to attraction the lowered damages award.

Nevertheless, Judge Orrick agreed that Tesla confirmed a “striking” indifference to Diaz’s plight. In his unique lawsuit, Diaz stated he wasn’t simply subjected to racial slurs, fellow employees (and even one supervisor) additionally left drawings of swastika and racist graffiti across the plant. He stated Tesla’s administration uncared for to halt the abuse. Judge Orrick wrote in his ruling:

“Not only does the evidence support a finding of recklessness or indifference to Diaz’s health and safety, it supports a finding that Tesla intentionally built an employment structure that allowed it to take advantage of Diaz’s (and others’) labor for its benefit while attempting to avoid any of the obligations and responsibilities that employers owe employees.”

Tesla has confronted a number of racial discrimination lawsuits over time aside from Diaz’s, with employees claiming that they have been subjected to fixed racial abuse in its factories. In February, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed a lawsuit in opposition to the automaker after discovering proof that its “Fremont factory is a racially segregated workplace” the place Black employees are discriminated in opposition to. Tesla denied the accusation, saying it “opposes all forms of discrimination and harassment” and that it has a “dedicated Employee Relations team that responds to and investigates all complaints.”