A black former Tesla contract worker who refused a payout of $15 million last year in damages for severe racial harassment has been awarded $3.2 million by a federal jury in San Francisco.
Owen Diaz, who worked as a elevator operator at Tesla's factory in Fremont, California, sued the automaker in 2017 for violating a California law that prohibits employers from failing to address hostile work environments based on race or other protected traits. The first jury awarded Diaz $137 million in damages.
In June 2022, US District Judge William Orrick agreed with the jury that Tesla was liable but significantly reduced the award to $15 million, giving Owen Diaz two weeks to decide whether to accept the reduced award.
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