Tesla settles Black employee’s lawsuit alleging pervasive harassment

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By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) – Tesla has settled a racial discrimination lawsuit by a Black female employee who claimed a manager at its Fremont, California, plant sometimes greeted workers by saying “welcome to the plantation” or “welcome to the slave house.”

Raina Pierce, who installed latches on car doors, and the automaker led by billionaire Elon Musk agreed to a settlement proposed by a mediator, according to a joint filing on Thursday in San Francisco federal court.

Terms were not disclosed, and both sides are finalizing a settlement agreement, the filing said.

Lawyers for Pierce and Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Musk is not a defendant.

Pierce said she was subjected to pervasive harassment, including a common racial slur she said was scrawled throughout the plant including in bathrooms, and a gender-based insult.

She also said she was yelled at or disciplined for conduct for which non-Black workers were excused.

Pierce’s complaint quotes a Tesla employee who temporarily joined her production line and said, “Ma’am, you need to go to HR because these leads are saying things about you that are not right.”

Tesla has faced other accusations of racial discrimination and harassment at the Fremont plant.

One plaintiff, elevator operator Owen Diaz, settled in March 2024 for undisclosed terms after a $3.2 million jury verdict. Another jury had awarded Diaz $137 million in 2021, but the case was retried after he rejected a lower sum the judge proposed.

The case is Pierce v Tesla Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 22-03177.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Richard Chang)