A federal jury in San Francisco on Monday ordered Tesla to pay roughly $3.2 million to a black former employee after it was found that the electrical vehicle maker failed to prevent serious racial harassment at its flagship factory in California.
The decision got here after a week-long trial in a 2017 lawsuit by plaintiff Owen Diaz, who received $137 million from one other jury in 2021.
He opted for a recent damages trial after the judge agreed with the jury that Tesla was liable, but significantly reduced the award to $15 million.
Diaz accused Tesla of inaction when he repeatedly complained to managers that staff on the Fremont, California plant often used racial slurs and swastikas, racist caricatures and epithets on partitions and workplaces.
On Monday, a jury awarded Diaz, who worked as an elevator operator, $175,000 in emotional distress and $3 million in punitive damages to punish the illegal behavior and stop it from happening in the long run.
![Owen Diaz](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/NYPICHPDPICT000009181426.jpg?w=769)
Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted that “the decision could be null” if the judge allowed the corporate to introduce recent evidence within the retrial.
Musk added: “The jury did their best with the data that they had. I respect that call.”
Bernard Alexander, Diaz’s lawyer, called on jurors during closing statements on Friday to award him nearly $160 million in damages and send a message to Tesla and other major corporations that they shall be held accountable for failing to address the discrimination.
“Mr. Diaz’s views on the world have been permanently modified,” Alexander said. “That is what happens once you take someone’s safety away.”
Tesla’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, countered that Diaz was a confrontation employee who exaggerated his claims of emotional distress, and said his lawyers failed to show any serious, long-term damage brought on by Tesla.
“They only throw the numbers on the screen prefer it’s some form of game show,” Spiro said.
![The Tesla factory in Fremont where Diaz worked.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/NYPICHPDPICT000009181424.jpg?w=1024)
Tesla and Diaz’s lawyers didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on the decision. The corporate has stated that it doesn’t tolerate workplace discrimination and takes employee complaints seriously.
Diaz testified last week, tearfully recounting various incidents during his nine months on the Fremont plant. Diaz said the job unsettled him and strained his relationship along with his son, who also worked on the factory.
Tesla’s lawyers highlighted inconsistencies in Diaz’s testimony and repeatedly stressed that he had not filed written complaints along with his superiors. Diaz testified that he repeatedly verbally complained to managers and discussed his complaints with Tesla’s human resources officials.
![Elon Musk](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/NYPICHPDPICT000002415039.jpg?w=1024)
The electrical vehicle maker faces similar allegations of tolerating racial discrimination on the Fremont factory and other workplaces in an ongoing class motion lawsuit by black staff, a separate case from the California civil rights agency, and various cases involving individual staff. The corporate has denied wrongdoing in these cases.
Diaz sued Tesla for violating a California law that prohibits employers from resisting hostile work environments based on race or other protected characteristics.
The primary jury in 2021 awarded Diaz $7 million in emotional distress and a staggering $130 million in punitive damages. The award was one in all the most important in U.S. history for employment discrimination.
![Tesla factory in Fremont](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/NYPICHPDPICT000009181420.jpg?w=1024)
U.S. District Judge William Orrick last 12 months agreed with the jury that Tesla broke the law, but said the reward was excessive and reduced it to $15 million. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that punitive damages should typically not exceed 10 times compensatory damages.
Orrick said Diaz had only worked on the factory for nine months and had not reported any physical injuries or illnesses to justify a better award.
On Friday, Orrick rejected a motion by Diaz’s lawyers to have the trial overturned. They claimed Tesla’s legal team had breached Orrick’s bar for introducing recent evidence in a retrial by questioning Diaz and other witnesses about incidents where he allegedly made racist or sexual comments.
Orrick said these questions were related to other incidents discussed at the primary trial, and Diaz’s lawyers failed to show that the questioning had damaged the jury.