Six women who worked at Tesla’s Fremont factory and service centre have filed separate lawsuits against electric car-maker Tesla in the US for rampant sexual harassment at the workplace.
Read more: Tesla Allows Drivers to Play Video Games in a Moving Car
The sexual harassment lawsuit against Tesla
Each of the six women has filed a separate lawsuit in the California Superior Court in Alameda County; The six women claim that their male coworkers frequently make lewd comments towards their bodies or clothes, as well as engage in abusive behaviour like catcalling and inappropriate touching. One woman named Jessica Brooks said that she tied a flannel shirt around her waist to hide her backside in an attempt to escape sexual harassment; she even barricaded herself in her workplace with boxes.
The women who filed lawsuits against sexual harassment told a media outlet that they reported the behaviour to HR. Still, they were only moved to a different work area, while some women who didn’t feel confident speaking to HR about the issue claimed that their managers also partook in the abusive behaviour.
Elon Musk’s tweets fueled the issue
One woman named Eden Mederos told The Post that things got worse once the Model Y was announced. Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted “S3XY,” an acronym referencing the Model S, 3, X, and Y. Musk is also frequently observed tweeting out jokes mentioning “69” or “420” and other childish content, which Mederos said encouraged the technicians to be even worse at the workplace.
Amidst lawsuit fiasco, Elon musk was seen sending out pathetic replies to Senator Elizabeth Warren, who posted a tweet stating, “Let’s change the rigged tax code so The Person of the Year [Musk] will pay taxes and stop freeloading off everyone else.” To which Musk replied, “You reminded me of when I was a kid, and my friend’s angry Mom would just randomly yell at everyone for no reason, Senator Karen” – a reference made to a petty, obnoxious, and entitled white woman.
Source: Forbes
