Elon Musk's Tesla Triumphs as Judge Stops 6,000 Black Workers' Racism Case

Tesla, the big automobile giant who has Elon Musk's major shareholding, has gotten a big legal victory. This happened after a California judge ruled that a racial discrimination lawsuit involving about 6,000 Black workers at Tesla's Fremont factory cannot go forward as a class action reportedly. So this decision relieves Tesla of a potentially massive legal burden at least in a consolidated form, but it is not the only such case put against Tesla.

The Judge's Ruling on Tesla Case

According to latest reports, a California Superior Court judge, Peter Borkon, reversed a 2024 order that had certified the class. The original certification allowed former and current Black employees to sue Tesla collectively over allegations of pervasive harassment. Those allegations included racial slurs, graffiti, and even nooses at workstations as per reports.

As per sources, Judge Borkon's reasoning centered on a practical issue which is that the plaintiff attorneys were unable to secure testimony from at least 200 class members before the upcoming trial. And without a large enough sample to represent the entire class, Borkon reportedly said he could not confidently generalize the experiences of a few to all 6,000 workers. Moreover, the effect of this ruling is important because rather than moving forward as a class, each of those 6,000 potential plaintiffs would now have to bring individual lawsuits. And that seemingly can massively raise the cost, complexity, and risk for workers to prosecute their claims.

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Other Racist Allegations Against Tesla

This latest legal outcome has come after a ton of other such accusations against Tesla. In the past few years, Tesla has faced several high profile racism lawsuits involving Black workers.

One of the most contentious was the case of Owen Diaz, a former elevator operator at the Fremont plant, who alleged severe racial harassment, including regular racist slurs, allegedly racist drawings, and a hostile work environment. In a retrial, he was awarded $3.2 million (£2.43 million), though the earlier jury had given him $137 million (£104 million) as per reports.

It's important to note that Tesla, for its part, has denied that it permits systemic racism. The company says it does not tolerate workplace harassment and claims it has fired employees who violated its conduct policies.

Furthermore, adding to the pressure reportedly, government agencies are also involved in similar cases against Tesla. The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed federal race discrimination claims against Tesla, alleging that Black workers faced massive hostility, stereotyping, and abuse. At the same time, California's civil rights department (formerly the Department of Fair Employment and Housing) has its own lawsuit pending, citing pay gaps, segregation, and retaliation.

In another shocking case, a Black female employee, Raina Pierce, accused a manager of greeting Black workers with racist phrases like 'Welcome to the plantation' and 'Welcome to the slave house.' Tesla quietly settled that lawsuit in 2025 reportedly.

However, with this recent victory while Tesla avoided a major bullet, from a reputational standpoint, critics may argue that this ruling doesn't resolve the real issue which is Tesla's alleged workplace culture. Multiple lawsuits, settlements, and public accusations suggest a pattern of racial hostility but again allegations are not facts. Even if the company legally avoids a class action liability, the moral and cultural debates are far from settled.