Nov 17, 2021
Tesla Challenges $137 Million Verdict in Ex-Worker’s Racism Case
Bloomberg News
,![A person walks outside the Tesla Inc. solar panel factory in Buffalo, New York, U.S., on Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2018. Employees at the factory this month kicked off a union-organizing campaign, a fresh challenge to the automaker that has so far successfully resisted similar efforts by the United Auto Workers at its sole car plant in Fremont, California. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg, Bloomberg A person walks outside the Tesla Inc. solar panel factory in Buffalo, New York, U.S., on Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2018. Employees at the factory this month kicked off a union-organizing campaign, a fresh challenge to the automaker that has so far successfully resisted similar efforts by the United Auto Workers at its sole car plant in Fremont, California. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg](/polopoly_fs/1.1683055.1637135509!/fileimage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_620/a-person-walks-outside-the-tesla-inc-solar-panel-factory-in-buffalo-new-york-u-s-on-wednesday-dec-26-2018-employees-at-the-factory-this-month-kicked-off-a-union-organizing-campaign-a-fresh-challenge-to-the-automaker-that-has-so-far-successfully-resisted-similar-efforts-by-the-united-auto-workers-at-its-sole-car-plant-in-fremont-california-photographer-andrew-harrer-bloomberg.jpg)
(Bloomberg) -- Tesla Inc. asked a judge to set aside a jury’s $137 million verdict in favor of a contract worker who accused the company of failing to protect him from rampant racism in its northern California factory and order a new trial.
The Oct. 4 award to Owen Diaz by jurors in San Francisco federal court is believed to be one of the largest in U.S. history for an individual plaintiff in a racial discrimination case.
A juror in the case told Bloomberg News the panel’s decision to award $130 million in punitive damages was meant to prod Tesla executives to “take the most basic preventative measures and precautions they neglected to take as a large corporation to protect any employee within their factory.”
The punitive award is vulnerable to being cut in half because, under legal precedents, it’s disproportionately high relative to the $6.9 million the jury awarded Diaz for emotional distress, according to Arizona State University law professor Michael Selmi.
Read More: Eye-Popping Tesla Racism Verdict Poised to Be Cut If Appealed
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