Tesla is facing a multitude of legal troubles, with a proposed class action lawsuit filed in California by former factory workers. The lawsuit alleges that Tesla violated labor laws under California law and seeks over $5 million in damages. Two former workers who were employed at Tesla’s assembly plant in Fremont have filed the suit, hoping to represent thousands of Tesla employees.
The lawsuit accuses Tesla of several labor law violations, including failing to pay overtime and sick time, failing to reimburse employees for work expenses, failing to provide adequate breaks, and failing to give employees written quotes of their expected output. In addition to these allegations, Tesla is also facing racial harassment and discrimination claims in another complaint by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The complaint alleges that Tesla allowed harassment against Black workers in its California plants.
Furthermore, Tesla is set to go to trial next week over a lawsuit brought by the family of an Apple engineer who died in a crash while his Model X was in autopilot mode. The family of the engineer, Wei “Walter” Huang, claims that the autopilot design is defective and responsible for his death. In response to this legal matter, Tesla plans to call a second Apple engineer as a witness in the trial to testify that Huang was playing a game on his phone when the crash occurred.
Tesla has not yet responded to a request for comment from Business Insider regarding these legal matters. However, it seems clear that the company is facing significant challenges on multiple fronts. With ongoing labor disputes and accusations of discrimination and wrongful death, it may be some time before Tesla can move forward without these legal issues hanging over its head.
