Owen Diaz vs Tesla: Tesla ordered to pay more than $3 million to black ex-employee in racial discrimination lawsuit

On Monday, April 3, Tesla motors was ordered to may more than $3 million to black former employee Owen Diaz in a racial discrimination lawsuit. According to the New York Post, the latter claimed that the company failed to act when several of its employees reportedly subjected him to racial harassment. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has, however, has continued to deny the allegations.

According to CNBC, Owen Diaz worked at Tesla as an elevator operator. He claimed that employees at Tesla's Fremont, California facility, routinely used racial slurs to refer to him. He added that they would also graffiti swastikas and racial caricatures on the walls of the workplace.

According to the latest judgment, Diaz was awarded $175,000 in damages for emotional distress and $3 million in punitive damages.

---

Owen Diaz and Tesla clash over different accounts of racial abuse

In an official statement, Diaz's lawyer, Bernard Alexander, said that the racial abuse experienced by his client has led to long-term emotional damage, stating:

“Mr. Diaz’s outlook on the world has been permanently changed. That is what happens when you take away a person’s safety.”

Diaz told jurors that during the nine months he worked at the Fremont factory in 2015, he experienced extreme anxiety due to the way other employees would behave towards him. He added that his relationship with his son, who he convinced to come work at the plant, deteriorated as a result. Bernard Alexander, a plaintiff in the case, condemned the company for not acting, adding:

“No Black man in 2015 should ever be subjected to this plantation mentality workplace.”

Tesla lawyers argued that if Owen Diaz was facing discrimination, he should have lodged a complaint with the supervisors at the time. Diaz said that he had raised the issue, but was repeatedly ignored by the company's managers. Officially, the company has a zero tolerance policy towards racism.

Alex Spiro, a lawyer for the company, said that Diaz was an intentionally confrontational employee who caused arguments with other workers. He claimed that the former elevator operator was exaggerating accounts of his emotional trauma for monetary gain. He added:

“They’re just throwing numbers up on the screen like this is some kind of game show."

Spiro also claimed that Diaz was lying about his health problems to doctors. He added that the former worker had also misstated the number of months he was with the company.

CEO Elon Musk, on the other hand, said that he understood why the jurors had made a decision in favor of Owen Diaz. He added that if Tesla's defense team had the chance to present evidence differently, the case would have gone in another direction.

According to CNN, the lawsuit against the company is one of the most successful in American history.