According to a lawsuit from a team member, workers at Tesla’s Fremont, California, the plant faced conditions of sexual harassment that were “Horrible. Jessica Baraza, who works the night shift at the factory, says she experiences inappropriate conversation and touching “almost every day.”
Miss Baraza demands compensation and damages from the company. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Male workers routinely offered her up, looked at her breasts, described her as “prey on onions” or “a bottle of Coca-Cola,” and rubbed her body pretending to be an accident. Baraza told the Washington Post of one case.
In one incident, a man lifted her and put his arms around her; in another, he pinched his leg between Baraza’s thighs as she came in after her lunch break, prompting her decision to take action. “After nearly three years of all the abuse, it robs you of your sense of security. It almost dehumanizes you,” Baraza told the Post.
Ms. Baraza claims Tesla promotes an atmosphere of sexual harassment. He said he filed two complaints in September and October, but the issues he raised were not addressed.
The 38-year-old mother of two is currently on sick leave.
Ms. Baraza said Tesla, like many companies in the tech sector, requires its employees to sign arbitration agreements to keep workplace disputes out of court. However, he said the “unreasonable” terms made the agreement unenforceable.
Several other workers confirmed Baraza’s story, according to the Washington Post. Last month, Tesla was ordered to pay $137 million to Owen Diaz. An African-American team member at the Fremont plant, for failing to stop his harassment.
According to a court in San Francisco, Diaz, an elevator operator from 2015 to 2016, was faced with a racially hostile work environment. Tesla questioned the decision but said it was “imperfect.” However, the company has made progress since 2016. Adding a team member liaison team dedicated to investigating complaints, he said.
Mr. Diaz’s case alleges that African-American workers at an electric car factory in Fremont “found scenes straight out of the Jim Crow era,” including racist names and racist graffiti in bathrooms.