Tesla has quietly moved to resolve yet another high-profile discrimination case at its Fremont, California, facility, this time involving a Black female worker who said she endured racially charged remarks and systemic workplace bias while assembling vehicle doors.
The worker, Raina Pierce, alleged that a supervisor regularly greeted employees with phrases like “welcome to the plantation” or “welcome to the slave house,” invoking imagery that she says made her work environment intolerable. Her complaint is one of several filed in recent years that have spotlighted alleged racial abuse at Tesla’s flagship factory.
Pierce, who installed latches on Tesla car doors, reached a confidential settlement with the Elon Musk-led company following mediation, CNN reported. A joint court filing Thursday in San Francisco federal court confirmed the agreement, though specific terms were not made public.
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According to the filing, the parties are in the process of finalizing the settlement agreement.
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Attorneys representing both Tesla and Pierce did not immediately comment on the deal. Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, was not named as a defendant in the case.
Pierce’s complaint describes an atmosphere of persistent racial and gender-based harassment. She claimed that racial slurs were frequently written across various parts of the plant, including bathroom stalls, and that she faced disciplinary measures and yelling for conduct that went unchallenged when committed by white coworkers.
The complaint also references a moment when a colleague temporarily working on her line urged her to report the behavior.
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“Ma’am, you need to go to HR because these leads are saying things about you that are not right,” the employee allegedly told her.
Tesla has long faced scrutiny over the work culture at its Fremont plant. This case is the latest in a string of legal challenges that have accused the automaker of allowing racially hostile environments to persist.
Earlier this year, the company reached a separate settlement with Owen Diaz, a former elevator operator who became a central figure in Tesla’s legal woes around discrimination. Diaz initially won a $137 million verdict in 2021, a decision later overturned for retrial. In March 2024, he settled for an undisclosed amount after a second jury awarded him $3.2 million.
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