“Although Tesla publicly claims that it fosters a safe and respectful environment for its workers,’ the truth is that for years Tesla has subjected women working in its Fremont factory facilities to nightmarish conditions of rampant sexual harassment,” according to the opening paragraph in each of the complaints filed Tuesday in Alameda County Superior Court.
Tesla didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The complaints detail harassment from male colleagues and supervisors as well as a lack of response from Tesla when the claims were reported internally. Five of the six women who sued worked in Fremont; one was in southern California.
Roughly 10,000 people work at the Fremont plant, where Tesla makes the electric Model S, X, 3 and Y. The factory has long been the subject of complaints about racial and sexual harassment. 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 -- which itself has drawn fire from Tesla investors.
In May, a Black former employee won a
“Tesla has failed to take sexual harassment seriously, from the top of the company down,” David Lowe, a partner at San Francisco law firm Rudy Exelrod Zieff & Lowe, said in a statement. Lowe also represents Jessica Barraza, who filed a
The six complaints were reported earlier by the Washington Post.
(Updates with background on discrimination cases)
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