FREMONT, Calif. — A jury Monday ordered Tesla to pay $3 million to a former employee in a racial discrimination lawsuit, CNN reported.
The case was brought forward by Owen Diaz, who worked as an elevator operator at Tesla's plant in Fremont, California. Diaz said he regularly heard racial slurs on the factory floor and was subjected to racist graffiti and a racially insensitive cartoon.
In October 2021, a jury awarded Diaz $137 million in damages in the case, but a federal judge claimed that award was excessive, CNN reported. Another judge offered Diaz $15 million, but he chose to have a new trial instead which resulted in the $3 million payment.
CNN said this trial is different from another case that was brought by the California Department of Fair Employment and Houston, which said the agency had received "hundreds" of complaints from workers alleging racism and harassment at the Fremont factory.
Tesla has reportedly denied the charges that the situation was as bad as alleged in the two suits, but it has admitted there were problems that needed to be addressed at the plant.