A former Tesla employee has resolved a discrimination lawsuit, concluding the appeals process related to a reduced $3.2 million judgment
Tesla and a Black man who worked at the company’s California factory have settled a long-standing discrimination case that highlighted the electric vehicle maker’s treatment of minorities.
Owen Diaz, who was awarded nearly $3.2 million by a federal jury last April, reached a final, binding settlement agreement that fully resolves all claims, according to a document filed Friday with the U.S. District Court in San Francisco.
The document, which did not disclose details of the agreement, stated that both parties agreed the matter has been resolved, and the case against the company led by Elon Musk can be dismissed.
Messages seeking details were left Saturday with Tesla lawyers and Lawrence Organ, Diaz’s attorney.
The April verdict was the second reached in Diaz’s case, which aimed to hold Tesla accountable for allowing him to be subjected to racial epithets and other abuses during his brief tenure at the Fremont, California, factory. In the latest trial, the eight-person jury arrived at a significantly lower damages amount than the $137 million Diaz won in his first trial in 2021. U.S. District Judge William Orrick reduced that award to $15 million, leading Diaz and his lawyers to seek a new trial rather than accept the lower amount. In November, Organ filed a notice that Diaz would appeal the $3.2 million verdict, and Tesla filed a notice of cross-appeal.
The case, dating back to 2017, revolves around allegations that Tesla failed to take action to stop a racist culture at the factory located about 40 miles southeast of San Francisco. Diaz alleged he was called the “n-word” more than 30 times, shown racist cartoons, and told to “go back to Africa” during his approximately nine-month tenure at Tesla, which ended in 2016.
The same Tesla plant is the subject of a racial discrimination case brought by California regulators. Tesla has denied the allegations made in state court and accused regulators of abusing their authority. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a similar complaint in September.
Musk, Tesla’s CEO and largest shareholder, relocated the company’s headquarters from Silicon Valley to Austin, Texas, in 2021, partly due to tensions with various California agencies over practices at the Fremont factory.