Tesla Racism Case Award Cut to $15 Million from $137 Million (3)

A federal judge cut to $15 million a staggering $137 million in damages awarded by a jury in a racial discrimination case against Tesla Inc. over abusive conduct toward a former elevator operator at its northern California factory.

U.S. District Judge William Orrick said in a ruling Wednesday he was compelled by legal principles to reduce the jury’s October verdict, but he also concluded there was ample “disturbing” evidence to support the outcome of the trial.

Jurors heard that the Tesla factory in Fremont “was saturated with racism,” Orrick wrote, adding that plaintiff Owen Diaz’s co-workers called him “the N-word ...