California Administrative Law Office Rejects Tesla's Claim To Drop Racial Case

JAKARTA - An administrative body in California has refused to review Tesla Inc's claim that the state civil rights watchdog suing the company for racial bias at an assembly plant rushed to sue without conducting a full investigation.

The California Administrative Law Office in a letter rejected Tesla's petition, filed in June, to determine whether the Department of Civil Rights (DCR) had adopted "underground ordinances" that violated the requirements that must be met before suing an employer.

This is known in a letter obtained by Reuters dated August 8 but received by the department last week.

OAL, which reviews state agency regulations and can recommend changes, did not provide a reason for the refusal and said Tesla could still file its claim in court.

The department in a pending lawsuit filed in February said Tesla's flagship factory in Fremont, California, was a racially segregated workplace where black employees were harassed and discriminated against in terms of job duties, discipline, and pay.

A Tesla representative, who has denied wrongdoing in the racial bias case, did not immediately comment on the report.

A DCR spokesman did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The agency was named the Department of Fair Employment and Housing before changing its name last month.

Tesla's petition with OAL is an attempt to control the department's authority to pursue discrimination cases by forcing it to take additional steps before prosecuting, such as providing businesses with detailed explanations of alleged violations of the law and making efforts to settle out of court.

In the pending lawsuit, Tesla argues that DCR sued without first notifying the company of all the claims or giving him the opportunity to settle those claims.

A California state judge is scheduled to hold a hearing on Wednesday, August 24 on Tesla's motion to drop the case.

The lawsuit is one of several pending in a California court that accuses Tesla of tolerating sexual discrimination and harassment at its factories.

A state judge in April reduced the jury verdict for a black worker accused of racial harassment from $137 million in damages to just $15 million (222.5 billion). The worker, Owen Diaz, rejected the reduction of the award and opted for a new trial, scheduled for March 2023.