Already facing allegations of workplace bias and union busting, Tesla is facing a new class action lawsuit accusing the electric car maker of numerous wage law violations against factory and warehouse workers in California.
Two former employees of Tesla’s Fremont, California, assembly plant filed a lawsuit Thursday in Sacramento federal court on behalf of thousands of Tesla employees in the state, seeking more than $5 million in damages.
They say Tesla failed to pay overtime, provide meals and breaks, failed to provide paid sick leave or reimburse employees for work-related expenses, and set quotas that employees must meet. The lawsuit alleges that the company violated various California labor laws by failing to provide explanations.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment on the accusations.
The suit comes as Tesla seeks to fend off allegations in multiple lawsuits that it tolerated rampant racial discrimination and harassment of Black workers at its Fremont factory and other facilities in California. The company denies wrongdoing.
Last week, a federal judge refused to dismiss the lawsuit by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which enforces federal anti-discrimination laws. Tesla has also been sued by the California Civil Rights Division and 6,000 workers, most recently a jury awarded a $3.2 million verdict in a lawsuit brought by a black former factory worker and the company was settled on undisclosed terms. did.
Tesla also violated the labor rights of its employees by suggesting in a 2018 tweet that employees would lose stock options if they joined a union, and that the company is closing down its New York facility. It also faces allegations that it illegally interfered with union activities in the United States. Tesla has denied any wrongdoing in the New York lawsuit, and Musk said in a tweet that he was simply pointing out that most unionized workers do not receive stock options.
In a separate case in November, a U.S. appeals court said Tesla did not violate federal labor law by banning factory workers from wearing T-shirts supporting union causes.
