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Tesla has refuted the contents of a lawsuit<\/a>\u00a0filed by an employee who\u00a0alleges that he was the victim of racial harassment and discrimination while working\u00a0at the company.<\/p>\n DeWitt Lambert, a 44-year-old black man working on the\u00a0assembly line at Tesla\u2019s California-based plant, claimed in a suit that he was \u201csubjected to racial slurs and lewd behavior\u201d from co-workers for more than a year.<\/p>\n \u201cThey would call him the N-word throughout his workday, talk about the size of his penis and even placed a drill gun into his buttocks,\u201d the lawsuit \u2014 which was filed by the California Civil Rights Law Group \u2014 added.<\/p>\n Lambert is currently suspended with full pay while Tesla conducts an investigation into the apparent incidents, the company confirmed. It, however,\u00a0refuted a number of the claims from\u00a0the lawsuit when contacted for comment.<\/p>\n \u201cThe lawsuit has been timed to coincide with a carefully planned media blitz in an attempt to create a disingenuous narrative that is at odds with the facts,\u201d the car maker told TechCrunch in a statement.<\/p>\n Lambert said an incident caught on video in 2015 is\u00a0evidence of the threats and racist language that he endured from a group of then-colleagues. Despite multiple complaints to Tesla HR, he claims\u00a0he wasn\u2019t transferred to a new area of work until April 2016 while, according to the\u00a0suit, \u201cmost, if not all\u201d of the workers who allegedly harassed him\u00a0were promoted while he was not.<\/p>\n Tesla\u00a0said that its first investigation of the 2015 incident found that \u201cthere was no objective evidence that anything inappropriate occurred toward Dewitt.\u201d It noted that Lambert had socialized outside of work with the accused employees and that he used \u201cthe same racially insensitive language that he had complained about,\u201d suggesting that the incident had been taken out of context.<\/p>\n Tesla denied Lambert was overlooked for promotions. It\u00a0said he was promoted one year ago, while\u00a0a second promotion was denied after he\u00a0was given a final warning for repeatedly violating company policy by posting photos of \u201cconfidential\u201d Tesla technology on Facebook.<\/p>\n The company reopened the case\u00a0in July 2016 when it said Lambert provided previously unseen video evidence of the incident. However, it didn\u2019t progress further. In Tesla\u2019s own words,\u00a0the HR representative who led the previous investigation left days after the case was reopened and failed to pass it over to colleague.<\/p>\n The trail appeared to go\u00a0dead at this point, despite Tesla saying that Lambert continued to communicate\u00a0with HR staff on an array of apparently separate topics. Six months later, he filed the lawsuit.<\/p>\n Tesla confirmed\u00a0it terminated \u201cseveral employees\u201d in relation to the incident, although it added\u00a0that \u201cDewitt\u2019s version of events is not supported by the facts.\u201d The company said a screenshot from a Facebook Messenger conversation between Lambert and one of the accused \u2014 which it provided to TechCrunch \u2014 suggests that Lambert\u2019s original complaint was filed as an act of revenge because he believed his coworkers\u00a0had filmed him threatening a fellow employee and then provided the footage to Tesla HR. Tesla said that\u00a0no such video\u00a0was given to its HR department.<\/p>\n \u201c[We]\u00a0have suspended Dewitt with pay so that we can finish investigating the circumstances of the instant messages that were just provided to us about his threats of violence against coworkers. We will continue to take action as necessary, including parting ways with anyone whose behavior prevents Tesla from being a great place to work,\u201d it\u00a0added.<\/p>\n Full details of the lawsuit can be found\u00a0here<\/a>.\u00a0Tesla\u2019s full statement is below:<\/p>\n We believe strongly in having a good working environment and that people should look forward to coming to work every day. That means Tesla must always aspire to be transparent, respectful, fair and just. When we hear complaints or concerns raised by our employees, we take them very seriously.<\/p>\n A video recently came to light showing behavior by a group of employees at our factory acting in a way that we found disappointing and contrary to our values. It appears that a lawsuit is now being filed against Tesla in connection with this video. In the interest of transparency, we want to share what we know:<\/p>\n Based on interviews we have done, in April 2016, an employee named Dewitt Lambert got into an argument with a coworker and threatened him with violence. Dewitt, this coworker, and other employees had been part of a group of friends who worked together at the factory and also socialized together outside of work. The other employee filmed Dewitt making the threat and Dewitt mistakenly believed that some of these other employees had provided the video to HR in order to get him in trouble. (In actuality, the video wasn\u2019t provided to HR).<\/p>\n Later that day, in an apparent attempt to turn the tables on the complaint that he thought had been made against him, Dewitt filed a complaint with HR about these other employees, claiming it was they who had mistreated him, including by using racially insensitive language.<\/p>\n HR personnel investigated, interviewing all of the employees who were reportedly involved. That investigation turned up conflicting accounts of what happened, with other employees saying that Dewitt had the \u201cdirtiest mouth\u201d they had \u201cever heard,\u201d including using the same racially insensitive language that he had complained about. In the end, there was no objective evidence that anything inappropriate occurred toward Dewitt. As a result, our HR team coached this group of employees on the importance of behaving professionally and the investigation was closed.<\/p>\n Dewitt thereafter was transferred to another work area where he would have no further contact with those he complained about. There are no records of him complaining about new events for about a year after this. It seems that the transfer had its intended effect.<\/p>\n On July 6, 2016, during an unrelated conversation with HR in which Dewitt was receiving a final written warning for posting proprietary photos of Tesla equipment on social media against company policy, Dewitt showed HR an old video (taken in late 2015) containing the kind of language that he had previously complained about. This was the first time any video was mentioned or shown. The investigation was reopened.<\/p>\n The HR representative who had led the prior investigation left the company two days later on July 8, 2016 and didn\u2019t hand off the investigation to anyone else.<\/p>\n Although Dewitt continued to have regular interaction with HR on a host of topics, for which he thanked them for their support, we have no evidence indicating that he came to HR with any further complaints of this nature. Then, through an attorney, Dewitt submitted a letter six months later demanding a very large payment or he would file a lawsuit.<\/p>\n Once again, we looked into his claims and found that the co-workers Dewitt complained about described the situation very differently. They claimed once again they had all been friends and socialized outside of work, and that all of them (including Dewitt) used similar insensitive language with each other on a regular, ongoing basis, including in social contexts outside of the workplace.<\/p>\n Confirming this, one of the employees Dewitt accused shared personal instant messages (attached) which showed Dewitt using the same language when describing other colleagues involved in the argument from April 2016. One of those messages indicated why he apparently decided to make these accusations \u2013 he was upset because of his belief that these colleagues had turned a video into HR showing Dewitt threatening one of them. The employee stated this was what led Dewitt to conjure up false claims about these other individuals.<\/p>\n Dewitt alleges that he was not promoted as retaliation for having made complaints. This is false. Dewitt was promoted 12 months ago, and the reason he wasn\u2019t given a second promotion within 12 months is that, among other things, he had been given a final written warning for posting pictures of confidential Tesla technology on Facebook in clear violation of company policy.<\/p>\n That brings us to today. We have been told by Dewitt\u2019s attorney that they will be following up on their previous demand for a large payment by filing a lawsuit. The lawsuit has been timed to coincide with a carefully planned media blitz in an attempt to create a disingenuous narrative that is at odds with the facts.<\/p>\n It\u2019s clear that our investigation should have continued uninterrupted until all the facts were known. We have terminated several employees based on what we\u2019ve learned and have suspended Dewitt with pay so that we can finish investigating the circumstances of the instant messages that were just provided to us about his threats of violence against coworkers. We will continue to take action as necessary, including parting ways with anyone whose behavior prevents Tesla from being a great place to work. However, it\u2019s also clear that Dewitt\u2019s version of events is not supported by the facts. It would never be right to take action based on an accusation alone \u2014 there must be objective evidence or credible witnesses to ensure that an innocent person is not treated unfairly.<\/p>\n It is night and day to work at a company with strong purpose and great team spirit, where people look forward to coming to work. Monday either feels like jail or joy, and the people you work with make all the difference in the world.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n
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Tesla has refuted the contents of a lawsuit\u00a0filed by an employee who\u00a0alleges that he was the victim of racial harassment and discrimination while working\u00a0at the company. DeWitt Lambert, a 44-year-old black man working on the\u00a0assembly line at Tesla’s California-based plant, claimed in a suit that he was “subjected to racial slurs and lewd behavior” from co-workers for… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n\n<\/img><\/a>
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