✍🏾: @callmedr.c
Black #Tesla employees are coming forward with claims the company is not only full of rampant racists, but that founder, #ElonMusk, condones the behavior and essentially has everyone implementing behavior reminiscent of South African #Apartheid. To date, there doesn’t appear to be any consequences to the actions of anyone accused of the harassment. This is all happening on our home-front; right in the Fremont, California factory.
Monica Chatman, a former Tesla employee who landed her position in 2016, has stated that she experienced overt racism, being subjected to racist slurs and being assigned specific duties not related to her actual position or day to day duties, solely based on her race at Tesla.
Chatman was fired by the automaker after making complaints for herself and fellow Black coworkers, being called the N-word on the assembly line and no action being taken.
Monica and her coworkers were all placed in what other factory workers called “The Plantation” where they were assigned tedious, non-job related tasks such as scrubbing floors, baseboards, corners, on their hands and knees.
Another instance presented an Army Vet turned fleet manager being fired as a “consequence” once he reported his boss calling him and other Black employees “monkeys.”
Allegations were made in a February 9th lawsuit that was filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing on the behalf of more than 4,000 current and former Black employees. It is the largest racial discrimination suit ever filed by the state by sheer number of those impacted.
#LawrenceOrgan, Chatman’s attorney in the class-action suit against the automaker stated to the #LATimes that “the company’s allegations are the ‘same tactic’ it has used to counter other complaints by Black Workers.” He also pointed out that last October, a federal jury awarded a Black, former Tesla employee, $137 million after finding the company did nothing but turn the other cheek to the racial taunts and offensive graffiti.
Chatman is not alone in her claims and clearly not her suit, as it is a class action suit. We hope her and her fellow coworkers are able to receive justice. #BWLM💕
