Diaz, who worked at the facility for nine months in 2015 and 2016, said that other employees called him racial slurs and wrote swastikas and obscenities, including the ‘N-word,’ on the restroom walls.
A federal judge Tesla was liable to a Black elevator operator who said the electric car company ignored racial abuse at the factory where he worked.
While “the weight of the evidence amply supports the jury’s liability findings” Orrick stated in his 43-page opinion (see below), he also determined that the jury’s $130 million in punitive damages was “unconstitutionally large” and should be lowered to $13.5 million.
Diaz was granted $130 million in punitive damages and $6.9 million in emotional pain by the jury.
According to Diaz’s lawsuit, Tesla employees drew swastikas, left racist graffiti, and carved insulting pictures of Black children around the factory. He contended that supervisors failed to stop the abuse.