Abraham Jewett  |  February 2, 2022

Category: Discrimination

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Tesla Motors automobile sign.
(Photo Credit:Ken Wolter/Shutterstock)

Tesla Racial Discrimination Lawsuit Overview: 

  • Who: Shanel Dickson filed a lawsuit against Tesla. 
  • Why: Dickson claims she faced racial and sexual discrimination while working as a solar panel installer for Tesla Energy.
  • Where: The lawsuit was filed in California.

A former Tesla Energy worker claims she faced racial and sexual discrimination while working as a solar panel installer for the Tesla subsidiary. 

Plaintiff Shanel Dickson, a Black woman, claims her white supervisor regularly called her the n-word and other racial slurs during her time working as a roofer in Santa Clara County, Mercury News report

Dickson claims she also faced “inappropriate sexual comments” from her supervisor and was discriminated against by being given a lighter duty of work than her all-male work colleagues.

After telling her manager about the alleged discrimination and harassment, Dickson claims she was placed on a “performance improvement plan” that determined her performance was not up to requirements, Mercury News reports. 

In addition, Dickson claims she was assigned to trash pickup duties while an investigation was conducted after she took her complaint to the human resources department. Dickson argues she was never interviewed as part of the investigation nor was she told what it produced or found, Mercury News reports. 

Ultimately, Dickson claims she was forced to quit her job after her performance plan status prevented her from being able to transfer to New York, where she needed to move to take care of her ailing mother.

Lawsuit Latest Racial Discrimination Complaint Against Tesla 

The lawsuit is the latest of several complaints targeting Tesla over allegations of racial discrimination in the workplace.

In October, a jury awarded a Black former worker nearly $137 million after he complained he faced racial discrimination while working at Tesla’s car factory in Fremont, California.

The plaintiff in that case, Owen Diaz, claimed he was regularly called the n-word and other racial slurs while working at the factory as a contracted elevator operator in 2015 and 2016.

The company is also currently in the process of defending itself against a class action lawsuit filed in 2017 by a former worker arguing he faced racial abuse while working at the Fremont factory.

The plaintiff in that case, Marcus Vaughn, a Black man, claims a written complaint he made to the HR department yielded no investigation and that he was ultimately fired for “not having a positive attitude.”

Have you faced racial or sexual discrimination in the workplace? Let us know in the comments! 


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One thought on Former Tesla Worker Claims She Faced Racial, Sexual Discrimination

  1. Barbara Rogers says:

    add me please

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