Tesla Materials Handler Awarded $1M After Arbitration of Harassment Claim
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A former Tesla materials handler filed a lawsuit claiming that he was subjected to racial harassment in the Fremont, California factory.
The Case: Berry v. Tesla
The Court: Superior Court of California, County of Alameda
The Case No.: RG21104057
The Plaintiff: Berry v. Tesla
The plaintiff, Melvin Berry, is a former Tesla employee. Berry states he was hired as a materials handler for Tesla in 2015. Only 17 months later, Berry quit because he was allegedly being harassed at work. Berry filed a racial harassment and discrimination lawsuit citing multiple counts of harassment on the job via co-workers and supervisors. The original legal complaint alleged that Tesla supervisors called him the N-word while working in the electric automaker’s Fremont, California factory.
The Defendant: Berry v. Tesla
The defendant in the case is Tesla. Tesla, a popular and well known electric automaker employed Berry out of their California factory as a materials handler. According to the plaintiff, he filed two complaints in 2017 alleging harassment coming from his Tesla supervisors. In the complaint, the plaintiff claims that after he confronted his supervisors for alleged use of the racial slur, he was given a heavier workload and longer hours.
The Case: Berry v. Tesla
Earlier this year, the plaintiff hired an employment lawyer to represent him in a private arbitration hearing in which it was argued that supervisors at Tesla ignored Berry’s complaints of harassment in the California Tesla factory. The arbitrator found that there was evidence that two of the supervisors at the Tesla factory where Berry was employed used racial slurs and that the experiences caused him harm both emotionally and psychologically. It was noted in the ruling that a supervisor using the N-word in reference to a subordinate in the workplace is enough to clearly constitute severe harassment based on case law. The former Tesla employee was awarded $1 million, however, the majority of the award will go toward attorney fees and legal fees.
If you have questions about California labor law violations or how employment law protects you against harassment in the workplace, please get in touch with Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP. Experienced employment law attorneys are ready to assist you in various law firm offices located in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Chicago.
