World's Biggest Electric Car Maker, Faces Lawsuit From Former Manager For Racism And Safety Violations

Tesla is facing a lawsuit from its former manager. (photo: doc. unsplash)

JAKARTA – One of Tesla's former construction managers has filed a lawsuit against the US electric car company. He alleged he had been fired for reporting widespread safety violations and racial discrimination at Tesla factories.

In a lawsuit filed in Alameda County Superior Court on Friday, February 18, Marc Cage, an African-American, claims to have reported a safety breach that risked a massive explosion at Tesla's battery plant in Nevada. It is also about the risk of systematic failure by the company to disclose serious injuries at work.

"Tesla's commitment to unrealistic production goals and frantic attempts to increase its production, often to fulfill rushed promises, overrides any commitment to employee safety," Cage said.

He also alleged that Tesla employees, with full knowledge of the company's management, demeaned and harassed him based on his race.

"Nearly every washroom at Tesla's Fremont facility contains inscriptions or engravings of racist symbols and insults, including swastikas and prominent N-word displays," Cage said in the complaint.

The N-word is defined as Nigger or negro which is a term with negative connotations in a derogatory context to discredit African Americans or black people in general.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit. But a source at Tesla called the lawsuit Tesla "misguided,"

An agency in the state of California earlier this month also sued Tesla over allegations by some black workers that they were subjected to slurs and racist images and assigned to the most physically demanding jobs at Tesla's Fremont, California factory.

The lawsuit, also alleging the company tolerates racial discrimination, adds to claims made in several other lawsuits against the world's most valuable automaker.

Tesla and its CEO, Elon Musk, have escalated battles with regulators who have scrutinized his social media posts, the company's treatment of its workers, and testing of semi-automatic driving systems on public roads.

Musk on Tuesday, February 22 accused the US Securities and Exchange Commission of being a multi-layered “onion of corruption.” The day before, Tesla also accused the agency of leaking information from the Tesla-related investigation.

Tesla revealed earlier this month that it had received a subpoena from the SEC about its compliance with the 2018 settlement of Musk's tweet about taking the company private.

Last week, the company and Musk accused the SEC of harassing them with an investigation to punish Musk for being an outspoken critic of the government.