Tesla and a former employee are in the midst of another trial aiming to determine how much money the EV manufacturer should pay the man after he was subjected to racial harassment at the firm’s factory in Fremont, California.
In 2021, a jury sided with former Tesla employee Owen Diaz after he sued the carmaker for causing him emotional distress under California law. Diaz said he received racial epithets from colleagues who also left offensive graffiti in the restrooms and a racist drawing in his workspace. He added that the “n-word” was “pervasive and virtually everywhere” in the factory while his lawyer added that Diaz suffered “sleepless nights” and weight loss while working at the Fremont site for nine months.
Read: Former Tesla Employee Rejects $15 Million Payout In Racism Lawsuit
A jury awarded Diaz $7 million for emotional distress and $130 million in punitive damages. However, in April 2022, U.S. Judge William Orrick lowered the jury award to $15 million and said that the case wouldn’t return to trial unless Diaz rejected the new payout which is exactly what he did. Diaz’s legal team said the reduced award was unjust and would not be enough to deter future misconduct by Tesla. They also said that Orrick’s move to reduce the award highlighted the systematic bias that federal judges have against juries.
The new trial started on Monday as lawyers for Tesla and for Diaz started selecting a jury. Reuters notes that they asked them about their views on Tesla and chief executive Elon Musk. This new trial is scheduled to last five days.
One of Diaz’s lawyers, Lawrence Organ, says he hopes the jury will return a larger verdict than the $15 million that Diaz was originally offered.
“Tesla is focused on trying to get that number to zero,” Organ said, “but that’s a very cynical view to have a Black man racially harassed and suggest that is not worth a lot of money.”
Tesla says it does not tolerate discrimination and wants the award reduced to no more than $600,000.
