An African-American woman has filed a case against Elon Musk-owned EV manufacturer Tesla for ignoring racism and the physical stress she faced at the company’s facility in California.
Barker, in the suit, said that Tesla failed to address racist abuse directed towards her by a coworker and that it retaliated against her when she tried to report the abuse, reports Insider.
“I was violated physically, mentally, and emotionally because I am an African-American lesbian,” Barker said in a statement.
The former employee mentioned instances of physical attacks on her at the facility in her complaint.
Barker, in her complaint, states that she was subjected to racial and homophobic insults during her stint at the company. Her complaint also claimed that she was even struck with a hot grinding tool by a White co-worker.
Last year, Tesla was ordered by a federal court in California to pay almost $137 million in damages to a Black former employee who said he endured racial abuse while working at a factory in Fremont.
Owen Diaz, a former contracted elevator operator who worked at the plant between 2015 and 2016, alleged he was harassed and faced “daily racial epithetsa including the “N-word”.
He also said employees drew swastikas and left racist graffiti and drawings around the plant.
Diaz’s lawsuit claimed that supervisors failed to stop the racial abuse.
