Former Tesla Employee Wins $1 Million Racial Discrimination Suit

By Alyssa Wilson Published: August 11, 2021

Former Tesla Employee Wins $1 Million Racial Discrimination Suit

FILE - In this Feb. 2, 2020, file photo, the company logo appears on an unsold 2020 Model X at a Tesla dealership in Littleton, Colo. A day after its 5-for-1 stock split took effect, Tesla is announcing plans to sell up to $5 billion worth of common shares. Tesla shares rose over 2% in premarket trading Tuesday, Sept. 1, after the filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

By: Alyssa Wilson

Tesla must pay $1 million to a former Black employee who filed a legal complaint alleging the company did nothing to stop the racial discrimination he faced at one of the company’s factories in California.

Melvin Berry began working as a materials handler in 2015 but quit after 17 months, citing harassment, CBS News reported. He hired employment lawyer Jeannette Vaccaro to represent him for his private arbitration with Tesla.

Elaine Rushing, the arbitrator in the case, ruled there was evidence that two Tesla supervisors used racial slurs against Berry, causing emotional and psychological harm. “No other word in the English language so powerfully or instantly calls to mind our country’s long and brutal struggle to overcome racism and discrimination against African Americans.”

Court documents indicate that Berry faced retaliation. After filing complaints against his supervisors in 2017, he said he was forced to work longer hours and work with heavier materials.

Berry’s case is one of several racial discrimination suits filed against Tesla since 2017, according to CBS News. One class-action lawsuit is representing more than 100 employees alleging white workers used racial slurs against Tesla’s Black employees at the Fremont factory. One former employee being represented said he was regularly called the N-word by supervisors, and another said signs for the KKK and Nazis were spray-painted on bathroom walls. A third lawsuit was filed by a Black father and son who said they experienced racial harassment at the same factory in 2015 and 2016.

Tesla has not made a public statement about Berry’s lawsuit. In 2017, a blog post was released on the company website saying, “Telsa is absolutely against any form of discrimination, harassment, or unfair treatment of any kind. When we hear complaints, we take them very seriously, investigate thoroughly and, if proven to be true, take immediate action.”

If you or someone you know is struggling from trauma triggered by this story, resources are available here.