workplace racial discrimination

Workplace Racial Discrimination Leads to $137M Verdict Against Tesla

October 5, 2021 | by Nassiri Law

California workplace racial discrimination led to a jury verdict of $137 million against car maker Tesla. The plaintiff, an elevator operator, alleged the auto manufacturer turned a blind eye to racial abuse he suffered as a Black employee.

According to The New York Times, plaintiff worked at the company’s factor in Fremont for about a year. Throughout his tenure, supervisors reportedly used racial slurs repeatedly when referring to him. He was one of the many Black workers interviewed by the Times in 2018 about workplace racial discrimination at the international company.

In interviews, internal communications and sworn legal statements filed by more than two dozen current and former employees and contractors for the country revealed years of serious racial harassment and discrimination reported at the company’s factory in Freemont, CA. The company previously said that in a company of its size, sometimes there would be inevitable “bad behavior,” but insisted there was never any pattern of discrimination or harassment.

Among the incidents reported by employees of color: Continue Reading ›

Employer Racism, Retaliation, Alleged By Sony Worker Who Says She Was Used as a “Token” Minority

August 15, 2021 | by Nassiri Law

Sony, multinational conglomerate corporation, is being accused of racial discrimination against Black employees. Some had been invited to appear in a Black History Month video earlier this year to speak as “Sony shining stars” about the power of Black voices in the company. Yet at least one of those workers now alleges that the company’s representations of diversity failed to match reality.

According to Buzzfeed, plaintiff said she raised concerns about racist remarks by her supervisors. Instead of addressing those, management for the company allegedly retaliated against her by excluding her from meetings, taking away certain prime accounts and then terminating her while she was on sick leave after contracting the coronavirus. She now believes she was used by the company to bulk up its diversity numbers, and had no intention of actually living up to the image it portrayed.

The company declined to comment on the specific lawsuit, Buzzfeed reported, but insisted dedication to equity, inclusion and diversity, adding all such complaints are taken seriously and investigated thoroughly.

Our Los Angeles racial discrimination employment lawyers know this is far from an isolated incident in terms of employees of color closely considering whether the racial inequality reckoning that’s reverberated across the country over the last year has actually resulted in meaningful changes – particularly in terms of employment. Continue Reading ›

Workplace Racial Discrimination Alleged at Same Retailer Accused of Bias Against Black Customers

May 22, 2021 | by Nassiri Law

When it comes to employment discrimination, there is rarely a single incident by one person that can be pointed to as proof positive evidence of wrongdoing. More often than not, discriminatory actions are the result of a workplace culture where microaggressions, snarky comments or bigoted attitudes are excused – if not encouraged – time and again. This is also why there so often is more than one victim, even if they are affected in different ways.

Recently, the former “head coach” of a Nike store in Santa Monica accused of racially profiling Black shoppers is now also accused of harassing and discriminating against the store’s Black employees. That’s according to a Los Angeles employment discrimination lawsuit filed last month.

According to the filing, as published by Bloomberg Law, two former employees at the Southern California store say that Nike and its former store manager are legally liable for racial discrimination, harassment, retaliation and more. They say the manager created a work environment that was not only pervasively hostile, but abusive. Many employees of color felt they had no choice but to resign. Most of those employees who quit were soon after replaced with White female workers. Continue Reading ›