(Reuters) – A Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Inc shareholder filed a lawsuit against the electric vehicle manufacturer, CEO Elon Musk, and the company’s board, accusing them of ignoring allegations of workplace discrimination and harassment and fostering a “toxic work culture.”
The lawsuit that was filed against Tesla on Thursday is the latest claim that it treats its workers unfairly because of their race or gender.
Solomon Chau, an investor, said, “Tesla has made its workplace toxic by harassing and discriminating against its own employees because of their race or gender.”
“This toxic work environment has been building up inside Tesla for years, but the truth about the company’s culture has only just come out,” he said in the complaint.
“Tesla’s terrible workplace culture has inflicted irreparable harm to the company’s finances and reputation.”
Outside of normal business hours in the United States, Tesla did not respond right away to an email asking for a comment.
Outside of normal U.S. business hours, Chau’s lawyers at Kendall Law Group PLLC could not be reached.
Tesla has stated that the company does not tolerate discrimination and has taken measures to address complaints from employees.
The lawsuit says that Musk, 11 Tesla board members, and the company broke their fiduciary duties by not dealing with and fixing reports of discrimination and harassment that should have been red flags.
According to the lawsuit, this caused Tesla to lose talented employees and spend money fighting claims and paying fines for breaking rules.
US District Court, Western District of Texas (Austin), 1:122-cv-00592.
