Another former Tesla employee sues over racism

A former Tesla construction manager is suing the company following allegations that he was fired for reporting safety violations and because of his race.

Marc Cage, who is Black, asserted in his lawsuit that he reported violations that risked large-scale explosions at Tesla’s Nevada battery factory as well as failures of the company to disclose on-the-job injuries, Reuters reported.

“Tesla’s commitments to unrealistic production goals and frantic efforts to ramp up its production, often to make good on rash promises, overrode any commitment to employee safety,” the complaint said, according to the outlet.

Cage’s complaint also alleged racially discriminatory harassment such as “virtually every restroom in Tesla’s Fremont facility contained writings or carvings of racist symbols and slurs, including swastikas and prominent displays of the n-word.”

The Hill has reached out to Tesla for comment.

California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) filed a complaint earlier this month against the same factory about allegations of racism. 

“After receiving hundreds of complaints from workers, DFEH found evidence that Tesla’s Fremont factory is a racially segregated workplace where Black workers are subjected to racial slurs and discriminated against in job assignments, discipline, pay, and promotion creating a hostile work environment,” Kevin Kish, director of the DFEH, said in a statement at the time.

Before that, former Tesla employee Owen Diaz, who is also Black, sued the company in 2017, saying he and his son faced “severe and pervasive racial harassment” at Tesla, including instances of swastikas and other racial epithets in the bathroom stalls. 

In October, it was announced that Diaz would receive $137 million from Tesla, including $6.9 million for emotional distress and $130 million for punitive damages.

Earlier last year, Tesla paid another Black plant worker, Melvin Berry, $1 million after he said his supervisors did not take action after he was called a racial slur. Berry also reported swastikas and racist graffiti at the plant in addition to his co-workers’ regular use of racist language.