Tesla Inc. said a California agency informed the electric automaker that it has grounds for a civil complaint, following an investigation into racial harassment.
The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing issued a so-called notice of cause finding and mandatory dispute resolution to Tesla on Jan. 3, the company said Monday in a regulatory filing. The investigation involved “undisclosed allegations of race discrimination and harassment at unspecified Tesla locations.”
Tesla has faced numerous complaints and lawsuits from former workers at its auto plant in Fremont, California, about racial discrimination and sexual harassment in recent years. Many complaints never make it to court because Tesla’s full-time employees sign agreements requiring workplace disputes to be handled in closed-door arbitration.
In October, one former worker was awarded $137 million by a federal jury in San Francisco — the largest such verdict of its kind. Tesla is now appealing the size of the award.
“It’s a very positive development that the DFEH has made this finding and is willing to pursue a civil case if they can’t reach a resolution with Tesla,” said Larry Organ, a Bay Area civil rights attorney who represents several former Black employees and contract workers.
Tesla’s acting general counsel didn’t respond to a request for comment. The California fair-employment agency also didn’t respond.
The California DFEH filed a lawsuit against video game developer Activision Blizzard Inc. in July for promoting a culture of “constant sexual harassment.” The department also reached a settlement with Riot Games over sexual harassment and discrimination claims.
Since 2014, workers have filed over 100 complaints with the DFEH alleging discrimination at Tesla on the basis of race, age, gender, disability, medical leave, pregnancy, sexual orientation, or national origin, according to a synopsis provided by the agency after a California Public Records Act request.
Source: claimsjournal.com
Also Read: On Whoopi Goldberg’s Comments and the Origins of Racism
COMPLAINTS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES AT RECORD HIGH
The number of complaints about discrimination against people with disabilities reached a record high last year. The Netherlands Institute for Human Rights received a total of 810 such complaints, compared to 579 in 2016 and 342 in 2015, RTL Nieuws reports.
The Institute attributes the increase to the UN convention for people with disabilities, which the Netherlands ratified in 2016, it said in a report. Under this convention, people with a disability or chronic illness can file a complaint, for example, about poor accessibility at restaurants, museums and public transit. The Human Rights Institute eventually only ruled on 46 of the 810 complaints. In 20 cases the Institute came to the conclusion that there was indeed discrimination.
A total of 4,259 discrimination complaints were received last year. A massive 35 percent of them involved pregnancy discrimination. There were also 416 complaints of discrimination based on race, age, religion or sexual orientation. The Institute ruled on 161 of these complaints and found discrimination in 48 percent of these cases.
According to the Institute, the fact that it is sensible to report discrimination is shown in the high follow-up percentage of 87 percent. “Defendants are also prepared to take measures on the basis of a ruling from the Institute without any legal obligations to do so”, the Institute, according to the broadcaster.
For example, in one case in which a bus driver refused to help a disabled person onto the bus, the employer instructed all bus drivers that they are obliged to help wheelchair users. And in a case in which a zoo refused a guide dog, the zoo investigated and concluded that it is possible to visit the zoo with a dog. A special route was mapped out for people with visual impairment.
Are ‘discrimination arising from disability’ claims an easy route to employment tribunal wins?
The number of employment tribunal claims for discrimination arising from disability appears to be rising. John Charlton looks at what is behind the trend, and asks how future developments could affect the way employers manage disabled people at work.
Discrimination arising from disability was introduced in the Equality Act 2010 to prevent disabled people being treated “unfavourably because of something arising in consequence” of their disability. Anecdotally, it appears that the number of discrimination arising from disability claims is rising, so are employees adopting it as a relatively easy route to success in employment tribunals?
Joanna Marshall, employment solicitor at Charles Russell Speechlys thinks this is the case. “One of the reasons [for the rise] is because case law appears to be making it increasingly easy for claimants to be successful in bringing this type of claim,” Marshall says.
“In the recent case of Risby v Waltham Forest the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that the casual link between the unfavourable treatment and the disability does not have to be very strong in order to make a discrimination arising from disability claim. Therefore, even where the link between the individual’s conduct and their disability is seemingly tenuous a tribunal might find there is sufficient to constitute discrimination. This has significantly broadened the scope of discrimination arising from disability.”