!! OMG, Tesla’s lawyer tells a California judge the n-word is a “term of endearment” in Fremont racism trial !!
California is finally taking Tesla to trial over its Fremont factory, where the state says more than 6,000 Black workers were paid less, promoted less and called slurs on the line for years.
On day one, the Civil Rights Department showed the judge photos from inside the plant: the n-word scratched into metal, swastikas, “KKK” and a noose drawn on the walls. One worker says he heard slurs 50 to 100 times a day, and staff nicknamed the place “the plantation.” Tesla’s lead lawyer Tyree Jones responded by repeating the slur in open court and arguing the state was going after “the way that many Black people greet each other.” Jones is Black, and sure, reclaimed use is a real thing… It just has nothing to do with swastikas in the break room or managers calling the staff “slaves.”
And it gets messier. According to Electrek, the state’s very first witness testified that Tesla’s senior counsel contacted him days before trial while claiming to represent the state, and prosecutors say four more potential witnesses have since dropped off their radar. Judge Peter Borkon will decide the case without a jury, (shocker) the trial runs through the end of October, and because California is suing directly, there’s no cap on what Tesla could owe. Tesla denies any wrongdoing. …Wow. No words really.
