Getty Images | Justin Sullivan
A former Tesla factory worker who refused to pay $15 million in a racism lawsuit was awarded just $3.2 million after a new damages trial. A federal jury verdict reached yesterday awarded plaintiff Owen Diaz $3 million in punitive damages and $175,000 in compensatory damages.
After the initial trial, in October 2021, a jury in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that Tesla should pay Diaz $137 million. In April 2022, U.S. District Judge William Orrick reduced the award to $15 million, saying it was the highest amount supported by evidence and law.
Diaz dismissed the judge’s $15 million award and sought a new trial for damages only. The judge’s final directive to the eight-member jury was that “Tesla violated federal law by (1) creating a hostile work environment based on race and (2) violating federal law.” (3) negligently retain and supervise one or more of Mr. Diaz’s supervisors in violation of California law.”
When Orrick decided last year that Tesla should pay $15 million, he wrote: His supervisors and Tesla’s extensive management team did little or nothing to respond. Supervisors also joined in the abuse, threatening Diaz and painting racist caricatures near his workstation. “
Musk: ‘The jury did the best they could’
Diaz, who is black, drives a freight elevator and worked at the Tesla factory in Fremont, California for nine months from June 2015. His legal team reportedly asked a jury last week to award him $8 million in compensatory damages and him $150 million in punitive damages.
After yesterday’s $3.2 million ruling, Diaz’s attorney, Larry Ogan, said, “I don’t think the truth drove the decision here. It’s a show where Mr. Diaz is attacked and his credibility is questioned.” I think it was,” he said. magazine articles.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk discussed on twitter, writes: “Had we been allowed to present new evidence, the verdict would have been zero. The jury did the best they could with the information they had. I respect that decision.” “
Tesla last week objected to a jury being directed to claim punitive damages from Diaz, arguing that the evidence did not prove Tesla acted in willful or reckless disregard. “This record does not provide legally sufficient evidence that Tesla intentionally or recklessly ignored Mr. Diaz’s complaint of racist hostilities by other workers,” Tesla said. writing. “On the contrary, the irrefutable evidence is that Tesla’s supervisors investigated all of Diaz’s documented complaints of such conduct and subsequently responded with serious disciplinary action against the perpetrators. shows.”
Plaintiff: Tesla misled jury
Also last week, Diaz’s attorney said during the retrial, “Tesla repeatedly referred to inappropriate and highly prejudicial evidence in its blatant attempt to mislead and prejudice jurors as to the character of plaintiff Owen Diaz. , tried to introduce his state of mind, and the circumstances of this case.”
Tesla said it “asked inappropriate questions accusing Diaz of repeated racial and sexual harassment without any factual basis,” and that “Mr. “I made a completely unjustified and very unfavorable reference to my settlement with.” “We sought to elicit prohibited testimony regarding the conviction of Diaz’s son,” Diaz said.
“Tesla, in violation of a court order dated April 2, 2020, twice attempted to elicit testimony regarding Mr. Diaz’s previous criminal convictions, which prevented Tesla from presenting such evidence at trial. I did,” the motion said. In another case, Tesla “was able to unfoundedly accuse Mr. Diaz of falsifying a doctor’s note because he displayed an exhibit not authorized by a jury,” the motion said.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys’ “objections were not always upheld, and were not upheld until Tesla’s callous disregard for court rules had the desired effect on the jury,” the motion said.
Tesla also sued by California state government
Tesla is separately facing a lawsuit filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), alleging that Fremont-based “factories were racist.”
“Defendants segregate Black and/or African-American workers into undesirable work areas and/or locations for more physically demanding jobs, lower level roles, or lower wages and higher wages. discriminated against by assigning them to contract jobs with limited opportunities for growth: they were more likely to receive promotions and other benefits than their non-black counterparts because of their race, violating Government Code fewer professional opportunities,” argued a state agency in Alameda County Superior Court.
The agency’s lawsuit also stated that black workers at Tesla were “routinely subjected to acts of aggressive racial harassment that were severe and/or pervasive enough to create a hostile work environment.” The allegations were also made in a lawsuit filed by 15 factory workers in July 2022. Both cases are still pending.
