April 04, 2023
A recent $3.2 million race bias damages award against Tesla in a case where a jury previously said the electric vehicle maker should pay $137 million shows that having separate trials on liability and damages can be good for employers accused of discrimination, experts say. Here are three takeaways from the latest development in the high-profile case.
April 03, 2023
A California federal jury on Monday ordered Tesla to pay $175,000 in noneconomic damages and $3 million in punitive damages to a Black ex-subcontractor who was harassed and subjected to racial slurs, capping a damages retrial that began after the overseeing judge threw out a prior $137 million verdict as excessive.
March 31, 2023
Counsel for a Black ex-Tesla worker who a California federal jury found was subjected to racial harassment urged a different jury Friday to award him $159 million, saying he "should receive millions and millions of dollars for what he went through."
March 30, 2023
A Tesla lawyer cast doubt Thursday on the credibility of a Black ex-worker who a jury found was subjected to racial harassment, suggesting at a damages retrial in California that the plaintiff had written his own doctor's note to get out of work and hammering him about inconsistencies in his testimony.
March 29, 2023
A Black former Tesla worker testifying in a damages retrial broke down in tears before a San Francisco federal jury on Wednesday while describing incidents of racial harassment he experienced at a Tesla factory, saying that encouraging his son to get a job there is "one of the biggest regrets of my life."
March 29, 2023
An ongoing damages retrial in the case of a Black worker who wouldn't accept a sharply lowered award in his race discrimination suit against Tesla will likely yield lessons about the risks of refusing a reduced win, as well as how damages should be calculated. Here's a look at what attorneys have learned — and expect to learn — from the closely watched battle.
March 28, 2023
The California federal judge overseeing a damages retrial in a discrimination case won by a Black Tesla ex-subcontractor warned the company's counsel Tuesday about bringing documents into the case "around the back door," after an attorney tried to impeach a witness by using an email not disclosed during discovery.
March 27, 2023
Counsel for a Black ex-Tesla worker who won a $137 million discrimination verdict against the automaker delivered openings Monday in a damages retrial, ordered after the overseeing judge found the jury's award excessive, telling a new California federal jury that the factory where he worked had a "plantation mentality."
March 24, 2023
The California federal judge overseeing an upcoming damages retrial in a discrimination case won by a Black ex-subcontractor against Tesla granted the company's request on Friday to have prospective jurors with "extreme" views about Tesla or CEO Elon Musk questioned separately so they won't "pollute" others in the jury pool.
February 27, 2023
Tesla fought to exclude evidence of harm to other workers from a damages retrial in a California federal discrimination case won by a Black ex-subcontractor, arguing Monday that an incident involving feces on the seat of a co-worker's factory cart was too dissimilar to harm the plaintiff allegedly suffered.